Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon has backed off his refusal to appear before the Jan. 6 committee and now says he is willing to testify, multiple news outlets reported Sunday. The decision came after former President Donald Trump wrote a letter to Bannon indicating that he would not invoke executive privilege and would not try to stop Bannon from speaking.

After months of saying he would never appear before the partisan committee, Bannon had the change of heart just a little more than a week before jury selection was scheduled to begin in his contempt of Congress trial for defying a subpoena. He faced a possible jail sentence and hefty fines were he to be convicted for declining to appear. “Mr. Bannon is willing to, and indeed prefers, to testify at your public hearing,” his lawyer, Robert Costello, wrote Saturday.

RedState has been heavily critical of the committee because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi broke long-standing custom in refusing to allow the five Republicans chosen by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to serve, and instead put rabid anti-Trumpers Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger as the only GOPers on the committee. In addition to being highly partisan and unbalanced, the committee is plainly unfair, because there are no defense witnesses and no cross-examination. For instance, the committee’s “bombshell” Cassidy Hutchinson testimony has been heavily questioned, since the panel has so far been unwilling or unable to supply corroborating witnesses. To put it bluntly, the whole thing’s a joke.

Bannon was given the go-ahead to testify in the letter Saturday from his former boss, Trump.

Trump’s letter to Bannon.

The Legend writes the Honey Badger… pic.twitter.com/7EwriUIm3S

— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) July 10, 2022

Trump first sympathizes with the ordeal Bannon has endured:

When you first received the Subpoena to testify and provide documents, I invoked Executive Privilege. However, I watched how unfairly you and others have been treated, having to spend vast amounts of money on legal fees, and all of the trauma you must be going through for the love of your Country, and out of respect for the Office of the President.

He then goes on to formally agree to forgo executive privilege:

Therefore, if you reach an agreement on a time and place for your testimony, I will waive Executive Privilege for you, which allows for you to go in and testify truthfully and fairly, as per the request of the Unselect Committee of political Thugs and Hacks, who have allowed no Due Process, no Cross-Examination, and no real Republican members or witnesses to be present or interviewed. It is a partisan Kangaroo Court. Why should these evil, sinister, and unpatriotic people be allowed to hurt and destroy the lives of so many, and cause such great harm to our Country?

What is the committee hoping to get from Bannon, who only served in the administration for seven months? According to NBC:

He was present at a meeting in a Washington hotel the day before the insurrection, where Trump supporters talked about possible efforts to overturn the election, the panel has said, adding that it would like to ask him about a Dec. 30 phone conversation in which Bannon is alleged to have urged Trump to focus his attention on Jan. 6.

“I expect that we will be hearing from him,” California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a member of the committee, said. “And there are many questions that we have for him.”

Adam Schiff must be skipping around in delight, unable to contain himself.

True, Bannon is a bombastic, larger-than-life figure, and an outspoken Trump supporter. However, none of those are crimes.

If Steve Bannon ever actually does testify at the Jan 6, make it pay per view. I’ll be tailgating early.

— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) July 10, 2022

My guess is that once again the committee will come up with a big fat nothingburger that will mostly prove that Bannon often dresses like an unmade bed, but nothing else of note.