DONWARD HO: Jan. 6th Committee unanimously votes to subpoena Trump
The January 6th House Select Committee ended its final televised hearing before the midterm elections on Thursday with a vote to subpoena Donald Trump.
The move to subpoena Trump has been under consideration for some time, but the public Committee vote marks the boldest step yet for the bipartisan panel, which has so far issued more than 100 subpoenas and interviewed more than 1,000 people over the course of its investigation.
Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) clarified in his opening statement that Thursday’s presentation was technically not a hearing, but a “formal committee business meeting” so members can potentially hold a vote on further investigative action.
The unanimous vote closed out a dramatic presentation that showed plenty of new information and dropped bombshell revelations of just how involved Trump had been with the execution of the plot to prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 election for Joe Biden and the subsequent violence at the Capitol following his “Save America” rally on January 6th.
BREAKING: Liz Cheney calls for Jan. 6 Committee to subpoena former Pres. Trump: "Our duty today is to our country and our children and our Constitution. We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion." https://t.co/iWzOdKgwUh pic.twitter.com/6DGbRZswTu
— ABC News (@ABC) October 13, 2022
Most of the witnesses–the majority of whom have all been Republicans–have complied with the Committee’s requests, though a few have defied subpoenas for their testimony. Steve Bannon, a former senior aide in Trump’s White House, was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena to testify.
January 6th Cmte Chair Rep. @BennieGThompson: "It is our obligation to seek Donald Trump's testimony."#January6thHearings pic.twitter.com/3uxPfEEpAo
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 13, 2022
If Trump refuses to comply with the Committee’s subpoena, the House will take up a vote to compel him to appear.
Text of the resolution, as read: "Resolved, that the chairman be and is hereby directed to subpoena Donald J. Trump for documents and testimony in connection with the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol."
An extraordinary, important moment in US history.
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 13, 2022
The committee’s final public hearing took a broad look at the findings from their investigation, interspersed with new clips and information, to focus on Trump’s state of mind in the days surrounding and including January 6th.
[This is a breaking and developing story, please check back for updates and other January 6th Committee coverage]
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Tara is a reported opinion columnist at Occupy Democrats. She's a woefully underappreciated and unrepresented writer currently shopping for a super cool novel that has nothing to do with politics while also fighting fascism on a daily. Follow her on Twitter @taradublinrocks