Donald Trump Ordered To Testify In January 6 Capitol Riot Case

Lawmakers probing the 2021 attack on the US Capitol subpoenaed former president Donald Trump Friday to testify on his involvement in the violence, in a major escalation of their sprawling inquiry.

Lawmakers investigating the 2021 attack on the US Capitol summoned former President Donald Trump on Friday to testify about his involvement in the violence, in a major escalation of their sprawling investigation.

The summons came after the House committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans voted unanimously last week to compel Trump to appear before investigators.

It requires the 76-year-old Republican to file documents by November 4 and appear before the filing beginning on or around November 14—

Monday after the crucial midterm elections on November 8.

“As shown in our hearings, we have compiled compelling evidence, including from dozens of your appointees and former employees, that you personally coordinated and supervised the

"Part of the effort to cancel the 2020 presidential election and obstruct the peaceful transfer of power," the committee said in a letter to Trump.

Trump, who urged his supporters to "fight like hell" in a fiery speech near the White House on January 6, 2021,

He was impeached for inciting a mob to storm Congress later that day to stop the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden.

The letter accuses Trump of bidding to cancel the election despite knowing that allegations of fraud were overwhelmingly rejected by more than 60 courts and refuted by his campaign staff and top advisers.

In short,

I was at the center of the first and only attempt by any American president to nullify an election and obstruct the peaceful transition of power, culminating in the eventual bloody attack on the Capitol and on Congress itself."

Without confirming that Trump had received the subpoena,

His attorney, David Warrington, said his team would "review and analyze" the document and "respond as appropriate to this unprecedented action".

The White House declined to comment on the matter, but made a broad statement that it was "important to get to the end of January 6th."

- Aggressive escalation -

The committee's subpoenas proved difficult to implement, with former White House aide Steve Bannon the only target convicted in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply.

Bannon was sentenced Friday to four months in prison, although he remains out of prison on bail pending an appeal.

Known for his ability to limit time in congressional investigations and legal proceedings, Trump remains unlikely to agree to testify.

The subpoena will expire in any case as Congress' new term expires in January. Republicans are expected to win back the House of Representatives in the November elections,

and immediately plan to end the investigation.

But the move marks a violent escalation of the investigation, which has issued more than 100 subpoenas and interviewed more than 1,000 people since it was launched in 2021.

While no incumbent president has been forced to testify before Congress,

Lawmakers summoned several former presidents to discuss their conduct in office.

Trump's compliance means testifying under oath and could lead to a perjury charge if he lied.

If he refuses to comply, the full House can hold him in criminal contempt in a vote recommending his prosecution, as it did with Bannon.

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A clear and present danger

The commission unveiled a wealth of evidence through eight hearings over the summer about the former president's involvement in a complex series of related schemes to cancel the 2020 election.

Witness testimony provided startling examples of Trump and his allies lobbying election officials and trying to legally cancel votes in swing states, and of Trump's stalemate amid a mob uprising.

The committee also lobbied for its position that Trump -

which remains a wellspring of disinformation about the 2020 presidential election - remains a "clear and present" threat to democracy.

Lawmakers plan to release a final report by the end of the year.

The commission has not announced whether it will conduct direct criminal referrals regarding the Capitol attack,

Although this move would be nothing more than a gesture as the Department of Justice is already investigating.

The list of records that Trump is required to produce includes all of his communications on the day of the rebellion, as well as various categories of messages in the weeks leading up to the riots.

Investigators specifically mention Signal, indicating that the commission determined that Trump used the encrypted communications app while participating in the plot.

The software allows users to automatically delete messages within any specified period of time.

BY
ProBuzzFeed