Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon has struck a deal to avoid testifying before a grand jury. He will instead be interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller's team according to sources in the White House.

  • Steve Bannon will appear in a closed-door interview with committee members
  • He will be questioned in part of House's Russian investigation

Bannon is expected to cooperate in his interview with Mueller about possible Russian collusion within the Trump Campaign Team, although he refused to answer questions while being interviewed by the House Intelligence Committee for 10 hours on Tuesday.

His reasoning: Executive privilege.

The top Democrat of the Committee Representative, Adam Schiff, said Bannon's attorney said he was instructed by the White House not to answer questions pertaining to his time with the transition team and in the White House.

"So we served him the subpoena during the meeting to convert it from a voluntary appearance to a mandatory one. His counsel then went back to the White House and then came back with essentially the same gag rule which is they've been instructed not to answer questions during those time periods," said Schiff.

Bannon has also been subpoenaed to testify before the Grand Jury.

However, two CNN sources said Bannon reached a deal with Mueller and, for now, will only have to interview with his counsel.

Bannon would be the highest-ranking person who served in the Trump White House to be called before the grand jury. The move doesn’t confirm that Mueller is presenting evidence to support future criminal charges. But it does show that Mueller is actively using the grand jury as he examines the actions of Trump, his family and his staff during the campaign, the presidential transition and the early months of the administration.

Congressional officials declined to say whether Bannon disclosed Mueller’s subpoena during an all-day, closed-door interview with committee members.

Lawmakers questioned Bannon as part of their investigation into Russian election inference and sought answers about Trump's thinking when he fired FBI Director James Comey.

But Bannon refused to answer questions about that crucial period, and as a result, the chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., issued the subpoena, spokesman Jack Langer said.

Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the committee, contended that Bannon’s refusal to answer those questions came at the instruction of the White House.

"This was effectively a gag order by the White House," Schiff said shortly after Bannon's interview concluded. Schiff said the committee plans to call Bannon back for a second interview.

A spokeswoman for Bannon did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said "no one" had encouraged Bannon not to be transparent during questioning but there's a "process of what that looks like."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.