Former President Donald Trump (a phrase that I still can’t believe is normal) has officially been subpoenaed by the U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6th, 2021, Capitol riot.
“[W]e have assembled overwhelming evidence, including from dozens of your appointees and staff, that you personally orchestrated and oversaw a multipart effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election and to obstruct the peaceful transition of power,” Bernie G. Thompson and Liz Cheney stated in their letter to Trump. Essentially, they reject Trump’s claims that he was not involved in the riot and attempted coup and place him as the ringleader of the circus, which may allow actual charges to be brought against him in the future.
The panel is currently demanding that the former president testifies under oath by November 14 and is also seeking the “personal communications between the former president and members of Congress as well as extremist groups.”
(Maybe Alex Jones’ lawyer can help them with that?)
Will Trump testify?
If Trump refuses to testify, he may be found in contempt of Congress, which could include jail time. However, he may be able to invoke the Fifth Amendment and avoid testifying due to fear of self-incrimination.
However, given his previous responses, I doubt this will happen.
Trump had previously posted a 14-page response to the panel that accused the Democrats of attempting “to create the fiction of Russia, Russia, Russia, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, the $48 Million Mueller Report (which ended in No Collusion!), Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, the atrocious and illegal Spying on my Campaign, and so much more, are the people who created this Committee of highly partisan political Hacks and Thugs whose sole function is to destroy the lives of many hard-working American Patriots, whose records in life have been unblemished until this point of attempted ruination.” (Yes, these are his exact words, and this is likely filtered through at least one lawyer).
He also cited a Time magazine article as proof of conspiracy, despite the fact that the article wasn’t about him or the Democrats but about people who worked to make sure the election ran smoothly to make sure there was a clear result—one he has flagrantly undercut at every opportunity.
However, he and his legal team have yet to post a response to the subpoena itself. I imagine when it comes, it will be just as unhinged as always. We will update this article if/when that response materializes.
(featured image: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
