Select Committee Subpoena’s Trump Over Jan. 6 Siege of Capitol

October 21, 2022 by Dan McCue
Select Committee Subpoena’s Trump Over Jan. 6 Siege of Capitol

WASHINGTON — The Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol formally issued a subpoena to former President Donald Trump on Friday, potentially setting the stage for a landmark court battle likely to end in the Supreme Court.

The nine-member panel issued a letter to Trump’s lawyers, demanding his testimony under oath by Nov. 14 and outlining a request for a series of corresponding documents, including personal communications between the former president and members of Congress as well as extremist groups to be delivered to the committee on Nov. 4.

“We recognize that a subpoena to a former president is a significant and historic action,” Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., wrote in the letter to Trump. “We do not take this action lightly.”

The actual issuance of the subpoena could complicate the upcoming midterm election for some candidates, and comes as the Justice Department continues its own criminal investigation related to Trump’s taking as many as 100 top secret documents with him to Mar-a-Lago when he left the White House in January 2021.

As previously reported in The Well News, the former president lashed out angrily in a rambling letter released after the committee voted on issuing the subpoena, reiterating, at length, long discredited claims of widespread voting fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

He has not indicated whether he will comply with the subpoena.

The House has voted four times to hold in contempt of Congress allies of Trump who refused to testify or supply documents. 

Two of those allies — Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, the former White House trade adviser — were indicted and Bannon, ultimately, convicted.

The Justice Department declined to charge two others: Mark Meadows, Trump’s final chief of staff, and Dan Scavino Jr., another top aide.

As reported by The Well News’ Tom Ramstack, Bannon was sentenced on Friday to four months in jail and a fine of $6,500 for his refusal to testify. Navarro’s trial is scheduled for next month.

Cheney suggested last week that should Trump refuse to testify, the committee would “take the steps we need to take after that.” 

Trump did not immediately respond when word of the subpoena’s issuance became public.

Moments before, in an email, he berated the FBI and the Justice Department, which he alleges “paid a man $200,000 to spy on me,” and allegedly offered “a $1 million ‘bounty’ to try and prove a totally made up and fake ‘dossier’ about me” for “now leaking nonstop on the Document Hoax to the Fake News.”

“Who could ever trust corrupt, weaponized agencies, and that includes NARA, who disrespects our Constitution and Bill of Rights, to keep and safeguard any records, especially since they’ve lost millions and millions of pages of information from previous Presidents. Also, who knows what NARA and the FBI plant into documents, or subtract from documents — we will never know, will we?” Trump wrote.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue

A+
a-
  • Contempt of Congress
  • Donald Trump
  • House Select Committee
  • subpoena
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Congress

    April 18, 2025
    by Tom Ramstack
    Democrats in Congress Demand Retraction of Trump’s Order on Smithsonian Museums

    WASHINGTON — U.S. House Democrats asked in a letter Thursday that the Trump administration abandon the president’s order that would... Read More

    WASHINGTON — U.S. House Democrats asked in a letter Thursday that the Trump administration abandon the president’s order that would rewrite the way the Smithsonian Institution portrays American history. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in March telling the Smithsonian Institution to eliminate the negative... Read More

    April 10, 2025
    by Dan McCue
    Stefanik Resumes GOP House Leadership Role

    WASHINGTON — Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is back in House leadership, a month after President Donald Trump withdrew her nomination... Read More

    WASHINGTON — Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is back in House leadership, a month after President Donald Trump withdrew her nomination to be his United Nations ambassador due to concerns over the Republicans’ narrow margin in the chamber. On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., appointed Stefanik... Read More

    April 10, 2025
    by Dan McCue
    Speaker Johnson Victorious After Conservative Revolt on Budget Resolution

    WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was able to quell a rebellion by several of his conservative conference members... Read More

    WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was able to quell a rebellion by several of his conservative conference members and pass a budget resolution that will fund several key parts of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda. The revolt by nearly a dozen members of the... Read More

    April 10, 2025
    by Beth McCue
    California Lawmakers Lead Push to Preserve Hydrogen Hub Funding

    WASHINGTON — California’s Democratic Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, along with Reps. George Whitesides and Mike Levin, led a... Read More

    WASHINGTON — California’s Democratic Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, along with Reps. George Whitesides and Mike Levin, led a bipartisan, bicameral delegation of 45 lawmakers in a letter asking the Department of Energy to preserve funding for hydrogen production hubs. The delegation specifically targeted California’s... Read More

    April 9, 2025
    by Dan McCue
    Trump Puts 90-Day Pause on 'Reciprocal' Tariffs as Trade Rep Visits Capitol Hill

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would pause his “reciprocal” tariffs on most countries for 90 days,... Read More

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would pause his “reciprocal” tariffs on most countries for 90 days, but he also raised tariffs on imports from China to 125% after Beijing imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made goods a day earlier. In a post on... Read More

    Republicans Going Public With Their Growing Worries About Trump's Tariffs

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Manufacturers struggling to make long-term plans. Farmers facing retaliation from Chinese buyers. U.S. households burdened with higher... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Manufacturers struggling to make long-term plans. Farmers facing retaliation from Chinese buyers. U.S. households burdened with higher prices. Republican senators are confronting the Trump administration with those worries and many more as they fret about the economic impact of the president's sweeping tariff strategy that... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top