The Jan. 6 committee made good on its pledge to subpoena former President Donald Trump on Friday.
At the finale of the public hearing last week, committee members sent shockwaves throughout the Beltway by declaring their intention to subpoena Trump for testimony and documents. During the hearing, they lambasted him for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and the coinciding efforts to overturn the 2020 election and insisted his testimony was needed.
“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 the Congress itself,” the panel wrote in a letter to Trump accompanying the subpoena.
JAN. 6 COMMITTEE SUBPOENAS DONALD TRUMP
Trump is required to deliver the requested documents by Nov. 4 and give testimony on Nov. 14.
At the heart of its demands, the panel wants Trump to sit for testimony and turn over his communications during the time surrounding the riot. But in the subpoena, investigators laid out 19 specific document demands to ensure their ask was crystal clear. Here are the top seven demands.
1. Communication on Jan. 6
Trump is required to turn over every single communication he had on Jan. 6, 2021, including through phone calls, text messages, and applications such as Signal. The panel wants the messages regardless of whether he was “an active or passive participant” in the communication.
2. Documents about the Justice Department and 2020 election
The panel is demanding all documents or communications Trump may have had about the DOJ or the 2020 election, sent through Signal or other means. No timeline was given in the broad demand.
3. Communications on state certifications
Messages sent between Sept. 1, 2020, and Jan. 20, 2021, about plans to impede upon state certifications of elections or efforts to prop up an alternative elector scheme must be sent to the committee.
4. Efforts to summon people to Washington
Investigators want Trump to hand over communications that entail “efforts to encourage or summon individuals to travel” to Washington, D.C., on the day of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. They gave a time frame of Nov. 3, 2020, to Jan. 6, 2021.
5. Documents about losing lawsuits
The committee is demanding all documents and communications between Nov. 3, 2020, and Jan. 6, 2021, that “in any way” discuss losing lawsuits about the 2020 election.
6. Messages with key supporters
In one of their demands, panelists name-dropped a slew of Trump supporters who have been key figures of interest in its sprawling investigation. The panel wants any communications Trump had between Nov. 3, 2020, to Jan. 20, 2021, that involved Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, Boris Epshteyn, Christina Bobb, Cleta Mitchell, or Patrick Byrne.
7. Information on communication devices
Likely to ensure it has a full grasp of Trump’s communication tactics, the panel is demanding information “sufficient to identify every telephone or other communication device” that the former president utilized between Nov. 3, 2020, to Jan. 20, 2021.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
So far, Trump has been tight-lipped about whether he will comply with the Jan. 6 committee’s comprehensive request. He has hired Dhillon Law Group to help handle the squabble with the panel, Politico reported. The firm has represented others, such as Michael Flynn and Sebastian Gorka, who have found themselves in the committee’s crosshairs.
The panel has cited historical precedents in which presidents have complied with congressional demands and indicated it believes it would prevail against a legal challenge. Trump has ripped the panel, blasting it for unfairness.
“The double standard of the Unselects between what has taken place on the ‘Right,’ and what has taken place with [the] radical Left, lawless groups such as antifa, Black Lives Matter, and others, is startling and will never be acceptable, even to those who will be writing the history of what you have done to America,” Trump wrote in a lengthy statement following news of the plans to subpoena him.
You can read the full subpoena below:
