TASK DEFINITION: Given a document, generate a short title of the document. The title should convey the main idea/event/topic about which the document is being written. Note that URLs in the text have been replaced with [Link].
PROBLEM: The attempts to curtail testimony to congressional investigators became clear this week when  former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon  appeared before the House Intelligence Committee and infuriated both sides of the aisle by refusing to answer questions about  his  work during the presidential transition and in the White House.
At some points during  Bannon 's six hours of closed-door testimony   his  attorney took breaks to confer via telephone with the White House counsel's office to clarify what questions could be answered and came back with the same guidance:  Bannon  could not discuss any activities related to the transition or  his  tenure in the White House.
 Bannon 's team negotiated ground rules with the White House counsel's office the week prior to his appearance before the House Intelligence Committee  according to a source familiar with the situation.
The President's personal legal team was aware of discussions between the White House counsel's office and  Bannon 's lawyer about protecting a possible privilege claim. But it wasn't their decision  according to a person familiar with the discussions. The protection of the privilege is a matter for the White House  not the President's legal team  because it relates to the office.
Before the hearing   Bannon 's lawyer informed a staff member of Rep. Devin Nunes  the California Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee  that  Bannon  planned to claim executive privilege on topics beyond the presidential campaign  a source said.
But that information was apparently tightly held. "It caught me personally by surprise" that  Bannon  asserted executive privilege  said Rep. Mike Conaway  the Texas Republican leading the committee's Russia investigation.
South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy and Florida Rep. Tom Rooney  the other two Republicans leading the Russia probe along with Conaway  also said they weren't aware of any agreement between the White House and committee staff about the scope of  Bannon 's testimony.
"They wouldn't do that because I'd ask what I think is relevant to ask  and if you've got a legal privilege you can assert it " Gowdy said  adding that  Bannon  was in a "legally indefensible position."
As it became clear on Tuesday that  Bannon  was refusing to answer questions  the committee served  him  with a subpoena to compel  him  to divulge additional information.
But the scope of what  Bannon  was claiming was privileged shocked members from both parties.
" His  version of executive privilege is it covers the transition  the time  he  was at the White House and covers time forever " Gowdy told Fox News Wednesday. "That is no one's definition of executive privilege."
Lawmakers were also offended that  Bannon  had already divulged details about some of  his  post-campaign activities in Michael Wolff's explosive book "Fire and Fury " but then refused to discuss those events with the committee.  Bannon 's attorney also informed members that he would  in fact  answer those questions when he meets with special counsel Robert Mueller's team because executive privilege doesn't apply to Mueller's investigation.
Democrats charge that  Bannon 's appearance before the House committee marks the broadest attempt so far at using privilege to shield events that occurred from the moment Trump was elected.
Republicans haven't ruled out the possibility of holding  Bannon  in contempt  but at least one GOP member -- Gowdy -- suggested it was unlikely.
House Speaker Paul Ryan downplayed the issue of whether witnesses like  Bannon  might be abusing the bounds of executive privilege.
Still   Bannon 's stonewalling sparked a sharp warning from Conaway -- the Republican leading the House Russia probe -- to White House aides who might follow the Bannon model: "We're going to insist on getting questions we need to answer our report."

SOLUTION: Steve Bannon 's Hill appearance reveals White House effort to restrict testimony

PROBLEM: The Dec. 12 special Senate election in Alabama is being touted as the next clash in the ongoing battle between  Steve Bannon  and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for the soul of the Republican Partyâwhat  Bannon   with characteristic hyperbole  calls a âseason of war.â Roy Moore  the GOP candidate  stands accused of numerous incidents of sexual misconduct  including allegations that he molested a 14-year-old girl. Thatâs prompted McConnell  a Kentucky Republican  and most of his GOP colleagues to disavow him.  Bannon   by contrast  was Mooreâs most important ally in the wake of the sex scandal  at least until President Donald Trump took to Twitter to weigh in on Mooreâs behalf.
McConnell knows that having an accused child molester in the Senate would be toxic for his partyâs image  and that Mooreâs stubborn recklessness would make his own job next to impossible. For  Bannon   one suspects  this is the whole source of Mooreâs appeal.
Bannonâs stated rationale for backing Moore is that heâll help carry out the populist revolt that the former White House chief strategist is attempting to lead against McConnell and the GOP establishment. Itâs an odd claim to make  since Moore is less of a âpopulistâ than a âtheocrat.â He was twice kicked off the Alabama Supreme Court  once for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument  the other time for refusing to grant marriage licenses to gay couples. Whatâs more   Bannon  has a more powerful weapon to deploy that really does align with  his  professed politics and would all but ruin McConnell:  He  could oppose the Republican tax plan.
 Bannon  rose to prominence by espousing a brand of Republican politics that differed sharply from what party leaders such as McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan were pushing. Instead of tax cuts for the wealthy and slashed entitlement spending   Bannon  thought the GOP should become a âworkersâ partyâ focused on strengthening the middle class. This idea was so popular with conservative voters that when Trump took it up  he won the Republican presidential nomination. It also helped  him  steal blue-collar voters from Hillary Clinton in the general election.
Since  his  inauguration  however  Trump has consistently deferred to the same Republican leaders whose priorities  he  exposed as being out of step with the rest of the country. Nothing illustrates this better than the tax plan McConnell and his allies are frantically trying to rush through the Senate.
In sum  the GOP tax plan makes a mockery of what  Bannon  and  his  followers claim to stand for by directing its major benefits to the kind of plutocrats who donate to McConnell and his Republican colleaguesâone reason the plan is deeply unpopular with most voters. A recent ABC News poll found that 60 percent of Americans think the plan favors the wealthy  and just one in three support it.
So far  Bannonâs populist revolt has met with only middling success. Although heâs pledged to run insurgents in 2018 against every GOP incumbent but Ted Cruz  a strong slate of candidates has yet to emerge. One place  Bannon  has succeeded  though  is in tarnishing McConnellâs image among Republicans. Polls consistently show the majority leader to be the least popular member of the Senate  and an Oct. 24 Harvard-Harris poll found that most Republicans wish  he  would resign. If McConnell canât pass a tax bill  he may have to.
Given this vulnerability   Bannon  could use his influence and platform at Breitbart News to highlight the plutocratic skew of the GOP plan and demand that its spoils be redirected to the ordinary workers who elected Trump. Calling on Republicans to swap out the estate tax repeal  carried interest breaks and cuts for millionaires for  say  a payroll tax cut aimed squarely at the middle class would put McConnell in an impossible bind  while providing  Bannon  the dual benefits of being broadly popular and entirely consistent with  his  and Trumpâs 2016 campaign message.
Instead   Bannon  has been raging at McConnell without doing much to inhibit his agenda. He may yet carry Moore to victory. But if McConnellâs tax plan becomes law  thereâll be little doubt as to who is the true victor.

SOLUTION: Why Is Bannon Bashing McConnell Over Roy Moore Instead of Taxes?

PROBLEM: TOKYO (Reuters)  - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe  speaking before leaving for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics   said on Friday  he  wanted to convey to the world that cooperation among the United States  Japan and South Korea on the North Korean threat remained firm.
 Abe  who is set to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in  later on Friday  said  he  and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence had reconfirmed that Washington and Tokyo stood together “100 percent” at meetings in the Japanese capital this week.
“Taking that into account  I want to make the leaders’ meeting (with Moon) one that sends the message to the world that U.S.-Japan-South Korea cooperation toward the North Korea threat will not waver ”  Abe  said.
The North’s high-ranking delegation  including the younger sister of its leader Kim Jong Un  will meet Moon and have lunch with  him  on Saturday.
 Abe  also said  he  would convey to Moon Tokyo’s position on a 2015 bilateral agreement on “comfort women” - many Korean - who were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War Two  while urging “future-oriented” two-way ties.
Under the 2015 deal between Japan and South Korea  reached by  Abe  and Moon’s predecessor  Japan apologized to former “comfort women” and provided a 1 billion yen ($9 million) fund to help them. But South Korea has said the agreement failed to meet victims’ needs  calling for more steps.
Abe  whose decision to attend the Games opening ceremony angered some of  his  conservative backers  has rejected those calls  saying the agreement will not be altered “by even one millimeter”.

SOLUTION:
Japan PM says U.S. Japan South Korea cooperation on North Korea is firm