4 MICHAEL WOLFF a SIEGE > hear directly from the special counsel, who would send him a compre- ; after the FBI had first raised questions about National Security Adv hensive and even apologetic letter of exoneration. fp Michael Flynn, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus had walked into Steve I “Where” he kept demanding to know, “is my fucking letter?” 3 nons office and said, “I'm going to do you a big favor. Give me your ci as a card. Don't ask me why, just give it to me. You'll be thanking me foi ; rest of your life.” The grand jury empanelled by Special Counsel Robert Mueller met on 4 Bannon opened his wallet and gave Priebus his American Ext Thursdays and Fridays in federal district court in Washington. Its busi- card. Priebus shortly returned, handed the card back, and said, “You ness was conducted on the fifth floor of an unremarkable building at 333 3 have legal insurance.” Constitution Avenue. The grand jurors gathered in a nondescript space : Over the next year, Bannon—a witness of fact—spent hundrec that looked less like a courtroom than a classroom, with prosecutors at a y hours with his lawyers preparing for his testimony before the sp: podium and witnesses sitting at a desk in the front of the room. The Mueller i counsel and before Congress. His lawyers in turn spent ever moun grand jurors were more female than male, more white than black, older : hours talking to Mueller’s team and to congressional committee coun rather than younger; they were distinguished most of all by their focus 4 Bannons legal costs at the end of the year came to $2 million. and intensity. They listened to the proceedings with “a scary sort of atten- i" Every lawyer's first piece of advice to his or her client was blunt tion, as though they already know everything,” said one witness. unequivocal: talk to no one, lest it become necessary to testify about 1 In a grand jury inquiry, you fall into one of three categories. You are : you said. Before long, a constant preoccupation of senior s