The committee’s chairman and vice chair asserted that Trump “personally orchestrated and oversaw a multi-part effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election”
Donald Trump was formally issued a subpoena by the United States House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The former president, 76, has been requested to submit documents by Nov. 4 and appear for a deposition on Nov. 14 by the committee’s chair and vice chair, Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). In a letter they shared Friday, the pair wrote that there is now “overwhelming evidence” that Trump “personally orchestrated and oversaw a multi-part effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.”
“In short, you were at the center of the first and only effort by any U.S. president to overturn an election and obstruct the peaceful transition of power, ultimately culminating in a bloody attack on our own Capitol and on congress itself,” they wrote. “The evidence demonstrates that you knew this activity was illegal and unconstitutional, and also knew that your assertions were fraud and false. But, to be clear, even if you now claim that you actually believed your own false election claims, there is not a defense; your subjective belief could not render this conduct justified, excusable, or legal.”
In the subpoena, the committee requested Trump’s communications from Jan. 6, 2021, communications from Nov. 3, 2020 to Jan. 6, 2021 about plans to ask Congress, the Justice Department, then-Vice President Mike Pence, and others about overturning the election, and communications with Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani and other personal associates. They’re also seeking any communications he had about the committee, as well as documents about the Proud Boys and other militia groups.
The subpoena comes a week after the Jan. 6 committee voted unanimously during a meeting to issue the writ to Trump, who then shared a 14-page letter of his own, which did not clarify if he would testify. In it, Trump claimed the committee was full of “highly partisan political hacks and thugs,” who he said wanted to “destroy” the lives of “hard-working American Patriots.”
Pursuant to a unanimous vote, the Select Committee issued a subpoena to former President Donald Trump for testimony and records relevant to the Select Committee’s investigation into the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol and its causes.
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) October 21, 2022
“It is a witch hunt of the highest level, a continuation of what has been going on for years,” the former president claimed. “You have not gone after the people that created the fraud, but rather great American patriots who questioned it, as is their Constitutional right. These people have had their lives ruined as your committee sits back and basks in the glow.”
The letter from the committee’s chairs notes that more than 60 courts rejected Trump’s past election fraud claims, as well as “other challenges to the legality of the 2020 election,” while Trump had “specific and detailed” information from the Justice Department and his own staff that the claims were false.
“Because of your central role in each element of these actions, the Select Committee unanimously directed the issuance of a subpoena seeking your testimony and relevant documents in your possession on these and related topics,” the letter read.
In a letter to Mr. Trump, Chair @BennieGThompson and Vice Chair @RepLizCheney underscored Trump’s central role in a deliberate, orchestrated effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and block the transfer of presidential power. pic.twitter.com/rg7R37YE11
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) October 21, 2022
Earlier this month, the Jan. 6 committee released never-before-seen footage of lawmakers huddling together as the U.S. Capitol was under siege. Speaker Nancy Pelosi could be seen in the clips speaking with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as they tried to determine how to proceed with the election certification.
As of last month, more than 919 individuals have been charged with crimes related to the events of the Capitol attack. Former VP Pence’s memoir titled So Help Me God publishes on Nov. 15 and will reportedly chronicle “Trump’s severing of their relationship on Jan. 6, 2021, when Pence kept his oath to the Constitution.”
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