Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters
The Senate Intelligence Committee is “pursuing a wide-ranging investigation” into ex-White House adviser Steve Bannon’s activities during the 2016 election, Reuters reports. The committee is reportedly looking at “what Bannon might know about any contacts” two advisers on the Trump campaign—George Papadopoulos and Carter Page—had with Moscow. They will also reportedly probe Bannon’s “role” at Cambridge Analytica, a data analysis firm the Trump campaign hired to “target messages to potentially sympathetic voters.” Bannon reportedly served as vice president of Cambridge Analytica before joining the Trump campaign.
Sources also told Reuters the committee is seeking other interviews with witnesses regarding the role of “Cambridge Analytica and affiliated companies” during the 2016 election. The committee is reportedly setting up a date for Bannon to be interviewed in late November. Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14 days in prison after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the “timing and significance of his contacts with Russians.” Charges have not been filed against Page, but he is reportedly of interest to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into potential Russian collusion in the 2016 campaign. One source also told Reuters that Bannon is not a “potential subject” of Mueller’s investigation.