To complete its work and get ready to disband the following week, the House Jan. 6 committee has withdrawn its subpoena against former President Donald Trump.
Democratic committee chairman and Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson formally rescinded the subpoena in a letter to Trump attorney David Warrington on Wednesday.
As you may be aware, the Select Committee has finished its hearings, has issued its final report, and will shortly come to an end, according to Thompson.
The Select Committee can no longer pursue the precise information covered by the subpoena due to the impending conclusion of our inquiry.
To obtain testimony and documents from the former president as part of its investigation into his involvement on Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection and efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat, the committee had decided to subpoena him during its final live-streamed hearing before the midterm elections in October.
The subpoena would be challenging to enforce, especially given that Republicans are expected to assume control of the House in January, according to panel members.
But the action was also symbolic and political.
At the time, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, one of the two Republicans on the nine-member committee, stated, “We are required to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion.”
And everyone in America has a right to those responses.
Then, to avoid participating, Trump filed a lawsuit against the panel in November.
Although former presidents have in the past willingly consented to produce testimony or records in response to congressional subpoenas, “no president or former president has ever been compelled to do so,” according to the lawsuit.
The committee made a broad request for information, including private correspondence between Trump and lawmakers and with radical organizations.
The argument put forth by Trump’s legal team that it violated his First Amendment rights was that it was extremely broad.
The committee examined more than 1,000 witnesses, including most of Trump’s closest White House officials and allies, even though they could not get Trump’s testimony.
Many witnesses gave in-depth testimony regarding his attempts to persuade state lawmakers, federal representatives, and parliamentarians to support him in overturning his defeat.
Additionally, White House staff members who were present on January 6 spoke to the panel regarding his reluctance to order his supporters’ violent mob to leave the Capitol after they had trespassed and interrupted the declaration of President Joe Biden’s victory.
The committee determined in its final report, released last week that Trump participated in “multiple conspiracies” to rig the 2020 election and did nothing to stop the violence.
Additionally, the panel suggested that the Justice Department look into the former president for four other offenses, including supporting an insurrection.
On social media Wednesday night, Trump and his attorneys interpreted the action as a win. According to Trump’s post on his social media platform, “They probably did so because they knew I did nothing wrong, or they were about to lose in Court.”
He referred to the group as “political Thugs.”
Trump’s attorney Harmeet Dhillon claimed on Twitter that the panel had “waved the white flag.”
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