The House January 6th Committee subpoenaed Donald J Trump for his “deliberate, orchestrated effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and block the transfer of presidential power” on Friday, October 21 — the same date as Steve Bannon became the first person in history to be sent to prison for contempt of Congress.
“In short, you were at the center of the first and only effort by any U.S. President to overturn an election and obstruct the peaceful transition of power, ultimately culminating in a bloody attack on our own Capitol and on the Congress itself,” the Committee wrote in their letter.
Trump has until November 4 to produce the requested documents and must appear for his deposition testimony “beginning on or about November 14.”
After a unanimous vote of the Select Committee, Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) announced the committee had issued a subpoena to former President Donald Trump for “testimony under oath and records relevant to the Select Committee’s investigation into the attack on the January 6th on the United States Capitol and its causes,” the Committee shared above their letter to Trump.
Chairman Thompson and Vice Chair Cheney cited Trump’s personal involvement in orchestrating and overseeing the effort to overturn the 2020 election:
“As demonstrated in our hearings, we have assembled overwhelming evidence, including from dozens of your former appointees and staff, that you personally orchestrated and oversaw a multi-part effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election and to obstruct the peaceful transition of power.”
Trump did this even though, as the Committee proved throughout its hearings, he was unable to substantiate his claims of fraud in the courts and the DOJ, his own campaign staff and senior advisors told him he lost the election.
“You took all of these actions despite the rulings of more than 60 courts rejecting your election fraud claims and other challenges to the legality of the 2020 presidential election, despite having specific and detailed information from the Justice Department and your senior campaign staff informing you that your election claims were false, and despite your obligation as President to ensure that the laws of our nation are faithfully executed. In short, you were at the center of the first and only effort by any U.S. President to overturn an election and obstruct the peaceful transition of power, ultimately culminating in a bloody attack on our own Capitol and on the Congress itself.”
Knowing that Trump deems himself above the law and above having to comply with requirements others are expected to meet, they added that many other presidents have had to testify before Congress after they left office, because as President Roosevelt said, “an ex-President is merely a citizen of the United States, like any other citizen, and it is his plain duty to try to help this committee or respond to its invitation.”
“Former Presidents John Quincy Adams, John Tyler, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, and Gerald Ford each testified before Congress after they left office. President Roosevelt explained during his congressional testimony, ‘an ex-President is merely a citizen of the United States, like any other citizen, and it is his plain duty to try to help this committee or respond to its invitation.’ Even sitting Presidents, including Abraham Lincoln and Gerald Ford, also testified before Congress. Further, both former and sitting presidents including Presidents Nixon, Tyler, and Quincy Adams, have provided evidence in response to congressional subpoenas.”
Donald Trump is the first and only president to refuse to accept the rejection of the voters. He chose to incite a terrorist attack upon his own country by seizing power through violence in an attempted self-coup.
Donald Trump behaved like a dictator. His choices to lie and deceive his followers into committing violence on his behalf and giving him money under false pretenses speak to his criminally-minded character, and the fact that throughout his entire life, Donald Trump has been Teflon Don.
Becoming president, however, might have been the worst thing that ever happened to Trump because he continued to behave as he always has, except he was under the microscope of the presidency. One thing is for sure, his presidency was definitely the worst thing that has happened to the United States from within the White House.
A double-barreled shot of justice was delivered on Friday as Steve Bannon was sentenced to prison, and Donald Trump was subpoenaed by the 1/6 Committee.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
