House panel weighs contempt if Bannon fails to show for Thursday hearing
Source: CNN
By Manu Raju, Jeremy Herb and Kara Scannell, CNN
Updated 10:46 PM ET, Wed February 14, 2018
(CNN) - The House Intelligence Committee has scheduled a Thursday meeting to hear testimony from Steve Bannon -- but it's an open question whether President Donald Trump's former chief strategist will even show up.
The White House sent a letter to Capitol Hill late Wednesday laying out its explanation for why Trump's transition period falls under its authority to assert executive privilege, a move intended to shield Bannon from answering questions about that time period, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
But House members from both parties have so far rejected that broad interpretation of executive privilege, raising the stakes for Bannon's standoff with Congress.
Lawmakers from both parties say Bannon should be held in contempt if he fails to appear for the scheduled interview Thursday morning, a date that has already been pushed back three times as the committee has fought with Bannon's lawyer and the White House over the scope of the lawmakers' questions. It's unclear whether lawmakers will take that step, but they are growing increasingly agitated.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/14/politics/bannon-contempt-hearing/index.html
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ah, what profiles in courage they are! 
