It's a trap. The committee had no way around a problem of its own making. They referred Bannon to Justice for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify with subpoena. His criminal trial was set to begin in eight days. Now they have to eat his testimony or take the embarrassing step of declining to prosecute, if Justice would even comply.
“Mr. Bannon is willing to, and indeed prefers, to testify at your public hearing,” Robert J. Costello, Mr. Bannon’s attorney, wrote to Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee.
Does it have to be in public? Since that's Bannon's preference I would think not.
