2016 ELECTION/INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, testifying before a House committee investigating Russia’s role in the 2016 election, discussed the presidential campaign but declined to answer questions about her work as one of President Donald Trump’s most trusted advisers, lawmakers said.
After hearing her refusal, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee sought to subpoena Ms. Hicks on the spot, a step the panel took during an appearance last month by former senior White House aide Steve Bannon.
But the Republicans, who hold a majority on the committee, declined to compel Ms. Hicks’s testimony, said Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), the top Democrat on the committee.
He said that Ms. Hicks, who was appearing voluntarily in the closed-door session, told the panel that she was declining to answer questions about her government work at the direction of the White House.
Ms. Hicks’s appearance before the committee lasted about nine hours…
Ms. Hicks’s refusal to answer certain questions mirrors the position taken by Mr. Bannon.”
-Peter Nicholas, “Trump Aide Hope Hicks Declines to Answer Some Questions From House Panel,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 27, 2018 09:30pm