Capitol riot inquiry withdraws Trump subpoena
The January 6th House Select Committee has withdrawn its two-month-old subpoena ordering former US President Donald Trump to testify and provide documents related to the Capitol riot and 2020 election. In a letter to Trump’s lawyers on Wednesday, committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) explained that the ex-president’s participation was no longer needed as the investigation was over.
Trump, who had sued the committee to block the subpoena last month, gloated over its withdrawal in a post to his Truth Social platform, hinting that there was more to his being let off the hook than met the eye.
“The Unselect Committee of political Thugs” withdrew “the Subpoena of me concerning the January 6th Protest of the CROOKED 2020 Presidential Election…because they knew I did nothing wrong, or they were about to lose in Court,” Trump speculated, adding, “Perhaps the FBI’s involvement in RIGGING the Election played into their decision.”
The latter comment appeared to reference recent revelations of FBI involvement in suppressing social media coverage of then-candidate Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s laptop story in the months leading up to the 2020 presidential election.
Trump attorney Harmeet Dhillon credited his firm’s separation of powers lawsuit against the committee’s “illegitimate subpoena” with convincing them to “wave the white flag” in a tweet on Wednesday. The investigation had “wasted millions for a purely political witch-hunt,” Dhillon argued, accusing members of “total abuse of process and power serving no legitimate legislative purpose.”
According to CNN, however, Trump’s was not the only subpoena dropped for lack of time. Republicans made it clear that they would not continue the probe once they take control of the House of Representatives next week.
The committee released its final report last week, accusing Trump of participating in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the 2020 election and deeming him the “central cause” of the riot at the Capitol.
The panel also referred Trump to the Justice Department for prosecution on grounds of inciting or assisting an insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to make false statements to investigators, and conspiracy to defraud the US government. If convicted on the insurrection charge, he could be barred from returning to federal office.
