WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has extended the deadline for former President Donald Trump to submit documents and request sit-down interviews, as part of a subpoena issued last month. repeated.
A panel of seven Democrats and two Republicans released a statement late Friday and is in contact with Trump’s lawyers. was a deadline for creating and interacting with legislators.
“We have told the former president’s attorneys that he must begin making records by next week and will be summonsing deposition testimony beginning November 14,” Chairman Benny Thompson and Vice Chairman Liz Cheney said in a statement. I told him that I had received the letter.
In other subpoenas, deadlines for requests for commission documents or depositions are generally subject to negotiation, but only if there is direct communication between the witness and his or her attorney.
The commission’s decision to submit a subpoena to Trump in late October was a significant escalation of the investigation, with lawmakers accused the former president of being a “central figure” in overturning the 2020 election results. The subpoena set the stage for a potential legal battle with Trump as he considers re-running for the White House.
“I think he has a legal obligation to testify, but that doesn’t always matter to Donald Trump,” Rep. Cheney, R-Waiho, said at an event on Tuesday.
The commission requested 19 documents and correspondence, in addition to requiring Trump to testify in the Capitol or at a video conference by mid-November. This includes messages “or otherwise” sent by Trump on the encrypted messaging app Signal. To members of Congress and others about the astonishing events of the Capitol attack.
The scope of the commission’s request is wide-ranging, seeking documents from September 1, 2020, two months before the election, to the present day regarding the president’s communications with groups such as the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys. increase. A record of the preparations for the attack on the Capitol, the event itself, and the aftermath.
It remains unclear what action the commission will take in response to Trump’s failure to meet the document deadline. In the previous situation, when faced with defiance, lawmakers voted to contempt Congress of Trump’s allies and sent referrals to the Justice Department for possible indictment.
In its Oct. 21 subpoena, the committee wrote about the “overwhelming evidence” it had gathered, showing that Trump had “personally orchestrated” an effort to reverse his 2020 election loss. He corrupted the Justice Department and pressured state officials, members of Congress, and his own Vice President to change the outcome.
Lawmakers say Trump’s testimony about what he did and said during the Jan. 6 violence was crucial to filling gaps in the investigation.
The subpoenas include former aides and associates who asserted Fifth Amendment rights to self-incrimination against the Commission, including Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clarke, and Kelly Ward. The specific interest we hear from Trump about the deal was detailed. .
