Donald Trump. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images.
The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack formally issued a subpoena on Friday. former president trump.
Why is it important: Trump is the most senior person targeted to testify by the panel, which has built a case that the ex-president was the main instigator of the deadly riot.
Driving the news: Representatives Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the panel’s chair and vice chair, are asking Trump to turn over the documents by Nov. 4 and appear for deposition on Nov. November 14.
- “As demonstrated during our hearings, we have gathered overwhelming evidence…that you personally orchestrated and oversaw a multi-part effort to nullify the 2020 presidential election,” they said. wrote in a letter shared publicly on Friday.
- The committee is seeking testimony about Trump’s dealings with associates who invoked the Fifth Amendment when questioned by the panel about their communications with him, including Michael Flynn, Peter Roger, John EastmanJeffrey Clark and Kelly Ward.
- It also says the testimony and documents will inform the committee’s planned legislative recommendations to ensure that “no future president can achieve anything even remotely similar to the illegal steps you took to void the election.”
The details: Among the documents listed in the subpoena are Trump’s communications from January 6, 2021, and any photographs or videos taken that day related to the Ellipse rally, the joint session of Congress, or the Capitol riot. Are also requested:
- Communications from November 3, 2020 to January 6, 2021 on press efforts former Vice President Mike Pence, state legislatorsthe justice departmentand members of congress to help overturn the election, as well as summon supporters in DC on Jan. 6.
- Communications during this period between Trump and more than a dozen of his associates, including Stone, Flynn, Eastman, Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon and Sidney Powell.
- Communications during this period on lawsuits and potential lawsuits that may have delayed or disrupted the joint session, and on fundraising following allegations of voter fraud.
- Documents and communications from September 1, 2020 to the present regarding the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, other militias, and anyone who attended the Ellipse rally or the Capitol Riot.
- Communications from July 2021 to present regarding the select committee, as well as the witnesses who testified before the panel and their attorneys.
- Records of the destruction of any material that would have been covered by the subpoena.
Between the lines: The sweeping document request touches every branch of the multi-pronged effort to nullify the election that the committee elucidated in its public hearings this summer.
- It also covers investigative leads the panel is still pursuing, such as requesting communications with Secret Service agents, including former White House agent and deputy chief of staff Anthony Ornato.
What we are looking at: The subpoena could ultimately lead to a lengthy legal battle with Trump, who has repeatedly attacked the committee in public and would have told the aides in private, he would prefer to testify live.
- Thompson and Cheney also acknowledged in the subpoena that it was a “significant and historic action” but noted that it was not unprecedented, listing nine sitting presidents and former presidents who have testified in Congress or given evidence in response to congressional subpoenas.
The backdrop: The committee voted unanimously at a meeting last week to subpoena Trump.
- The two-and-a-half-hour public hearing focused on Trump’s central role in the attack and the events leading up to it.
- Asset sent a 14-page letter before the panel the following day in which he did not say whether he would agree to testify.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with details throughout.