White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed Wednesday that former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon's attorney shared the questions he was asked during a closed-door hearing of the House Intelligence Committee.
"That's the same process that is typically followed," Sanders said at the daily White House press briefing.
"Sometimes they actually have a White House attorney present in the room. This time it was something that was relayed via phone," she continued.
Sanders said relaying the questions "was following standard procedure for an instance like this and something that will likely happen again on any other number of occasions, not just in this administration, but future administrations."
Bannon, who Trump fired in August, largely avoided answering questions from House members investigating possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia, including questions about his work on the Trump transition process before the January inauguration.
Democrats and some legal scholars expressed doubt about his reported claims during a closed-door Tuesday hearing that executive privilege extended to the transition process.
Sanders declined to discuss in detail instructions to Bannon's legal team regarding what material may be protected by executive privilege, but said "the same process and past practice" is being followed regarding the testimony of former White House employees testifying before Congress.
"I'm talking about the process, I can't go any further than that," she said.
