The Jan. 6 committee has officially subpoenaed Donald Trump.
“This subpoena calls for testimony and relevant documents in your possession on these related topics,” the committee wrote in a letter to the former president after listing several bullet points outlining the former president’s role in working to overturn the election, culminating with the riot at the Capitol.
“We recognize that a subpoena to a former President is a significant and historic action,” the committee continues. “We do not take this action lightly.”
The committee asked Trump to provide documents by Nov. 4 and to testify by Nov. 14.
The committee is asking Trump for all of his phone records from Jan. 6; communications with members of Congress from Dec. 18 to Jan. 6 pertaining to the 2020 election; any communications pertaining to the Oath Keepers or Proud Boys, two extremist groups whose members have been charged with sedition for their alleged role in the riot; and any communications with several of the figures central to the effort to overturn the election, including Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon, and others.
Bannon earlier on Friday was sentenced to four months in prison for criminal contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena from the committee.
The subpoena comes a week after the House panel investigating the riot at the Capitol last Jan. 6 voted unanimously to seek testimony and records from the former president pertaining to his role in the insurrection and his ongoing push to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
It goes without saying that Trump is a person of interest to the committee. Vice Chair Liz Cheney described him last week as the “central cause” of what happened on Jan. 6 and that he was “personally and substantially involved in all of it.”
“He is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on Jan. 6,” Chairman Bennie Thompson added as the committee voted to issue the subpoena. “So we want to hear from him.”
Trump responded to the committee’s vote with a furious, meme-filled posting spree on Truth Social, during which he wondered why the committee waited so long to subpoena him while calling its work a “BUST.” The former president issued a more fleshed-out rebuttal the following morning, railing against the committee and falsely claiming the 2020 election was rigged against him. “Dear Chairman Thompson,” the letter began. “THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2020 WAS RIGGED AND STOLEN!”
Trump has not indicated whether he will or will not comply with the subpoena. Maggie Haberman of The New York Times has reported that Trump has been telling aides he wants to testify live.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who serves on the committee, told ABC News was noncommittal on whether the committee would accept such testimony. “I think that’s going to be a negotiation,” he said. “I’ll only address that when we know for sure whether or not the president has tried to push to come in and talk to us live.”
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