President Donald Trump's first campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, reportedly stonewalled lawmakers during an appearance before the House Intelligence Committee Wednesday.
Lewandowski's silence — citing executive privilege — followed the reluctance a day earlier of former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon, who similarly declined to answer some of the panel's questions.
"[Tuesday, Lewandowski] said on Fox that he would answer every question that we had," Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the panel's top Democrat, told reporters, per The Hill.
"[Wednesday] however he refused to answer questions, like Steve Bannon, that referred to anything after he left the campaign.”
Schiff said Lewandowski has no grounds to invoke executive privilege because he never held a job in transition or government.
"[H]e is not an administration official, never has been an administration official, so there is obviously no privilege there," Schiff said, calling it "completely unacceptable."
He added it "became clear within minutes of the interview" Lewandowski did not plan to answer their questions, although he told lawmakers he would return for another interview.
"He has expressed a willingness to come back and answer these questions, but to me that is unacceptable to have a witness come before us and decide that for the purposes of [Wednesday's] interview, these are categories of questions I'm placing off limits," Schiff said, The Hill reported.
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