Lewandowski appears for second House Intel interview

Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski appeared for a second interview before the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday as part of the panel’s investigation into Russian interference.

Lewandowski infuriated Democrats during his initial appearance before the committee in January by stating that he was not prepared to answer questions that related to anything after he left the Trump campaign in the summer of 2016.

He did, however, pledge at the time to return and submit to questioning at a later date. Democrats have repeatedly demanded he make good on his word over the past couple of weeks, leading up to Thursday’s meeting.

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The former Trump campaign official is one of several witnesses who declined to answer some questions during appearances before the committee. Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon and outgoing White House communications director Hope Hicks, who followed President Trump from the campaign trail to the West Wing, asserted some form of executive privilege during their interviews. 

Bannon refused to answer any questions outside of 25 White House-scripted questions in February. He appeared before the committee under a subpoena issued on the spot during his first interview.

Hicks, who appeared before the committee late last month, initially refused to answer questions about her time on the transition team. While she later agreed to answer questions about that time period, Democrats say she declined to answer questions about key events such as the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer.

Republicans say Lewandowski’s period of employment with Trump — just the campaign trail — separates him from Bannon and Hicks. They argue he largely satisfied their line of questioning during his initial appearance and that he did not seek to limit the scope of his interview like the other two. His counsel said they were not ready to talk about information that unfolded while he was a private citizen, they argued.

“What Corey kept telling us was, ‘I’m not telling you I won’t answer your questions, I’m telling you my lawyer didn’t prep me [to answer questions related to the period after he left the campaign],’” Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) said Wednesday, adding, “I don’t think Republicans are going to have a ton of questions for Corey tomorrow.”

Democrats, however, argue Lewandowski did not have a legal basis for such a refusal.

The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), called the former aide’s unwillingness to answer certain questions in January “completely unacceptable.”

“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 today’s interview, these are categories of questions I’m placing off-limits,” Schiff said at the time.

Lewandowski, who left the campaign in June 2016, has claimed he still maintains a cozy relationship with the Trump administration.

It is unclear whether he will shed new light during the interview on his ties to the White House while a private citizen.