Hope Hicks won't answer key questions before House panel in Russia probe

White House Communications Director Hope Hicks testified Tuesday in a closed-door session before the House Intelligence Committee as Democrats complained that she refused to answer key questions in the Russia investigation.

However, the committee did not take action to subpoena Hicks on the spot to compel her testimony, as the panel did to former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon last month.

Hicks initially refused to answer questions about anything that happened during the presidential transition period between the November 2016 election and Donald Trump's inauguration in January 2017. However, she relented after about six hours and began answering questions about the transition, Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., told reporters.

Rooney said the committee persuaded her to talk after reminding her and her attorney that she had already discussed the transition during previous testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Source: usatoday