Thursday afternoon, the Democrat-led January 6 Committee voted unanimously to subpoena former President Donald Trump. Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS), said shortly before the 9-0 vote: “He is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on Jan. 6. So we want to hear from him. The committee needs to do everything in our power to tell the most complete story possible and provide recommendations to help ensure that nothing like Jan. 6 ever happens again. We need to be fair and thorough in getting the full context for the evidence we’ve obtained.”
Donald Trump (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Rep. Thompson explained that the decision was taken publicly in the interests of transparency. He explained: “We also recognize that a subpoena to a former president is a serious and extraordinary action. That’s why we want to take this in full view of the American people.”
A Subpoena Fight Ahead?
Whether Trump will comply with the subpoena remains to be seen. Since the beginning of the committee’s work, the former president has repeatedly described it as a political witch hunt, taking to his TruthSocial account to lambaste the members and the witnesses.
In September, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) cast doubts on whether the hearings could be completed during this session of Congress. She said, “If we were trying to get into a subpoena fight with either the former vice president or the former president, that litigation could not be concluded during the life of this Congress. And I think the former president has made clear that he has no intention of coming in.”
The former president responded to the subpoena via his TruthSocial platform, asking, "Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago? Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting? Because the Committee is a total “BUST” that has only served to further divide our Country which, by the way, is doing very badly - A laughing stock all over the World?"
