WASHINGTON: The committee of the House of Representatives of the USA that investigates the attack on the Capitol, issued legal summon to former president Donald Trump to testify under oath and provide documents before November 4.
Media reports suggested the subpoena was the most aggressive step yet in one of the most consequential congressional investigations in decades. Reports said parliamentary body sought to elucidate the actions of Trump in the incidents that took place on January 6, 2021, after the then-reelection candidate delivered a fiery speech at a rally near the White House with claims that his 2020 general election loss to Democratic Joe Biden was the result of a “fraud”.
The move came came as the Justice Department conducts a separate criminal inquiry into efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and weeks before the midterm congressional elections, and was likely to thrust Mr. Trump and the Jan. 6 committee into a legal battle that could ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.
The letter sent to Trump, reads “as demonstrated in our hearings, we have gathered overwhelming evidence, including from dozens of your former appointees and staff, that you personally orchestrated and oversaw a multi-party effort to nullify the 2020 presidential election and obstruct the peaceful transition of power.”
The committee directed Mr. Trump to produce an extensive list of documents and communications — including phone calls, texts, encrypted messages and email — related to nearly every aspect of his effort to invalidate the 2020 election between the dates of Nov. 3, 2020, and Jan. 6, 2021.
It asked for material on the former president’s bid to create false slates of pro-Trump electors in states he lost, his connections to the militia groups that attended the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, any attempts to delay or disrupt the electoral count by Congress on that day, and his interactions with members of Congress.
