The January 6 select committee on Wednesday decided to drop the subpoena it previously issued to former president Trump as it wraps up its investigation.
Democratic representative Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the panel, announced the revocation of the order for compelled testimony in a letter to the Dhillon Law Group, the law firm representing Trump.
“In light of the imminent end of our investigation, the Select Committee can no longer pursue the specific information covered by the subpoena,” Thompson wrote. “Therefore, through this letter, I hereby formally withdraw the subpoena issued to former President Trump, and notify you that he is no longer obligated to comply or produce records in response to said subpoena.”
The committee subpoenaed Trump in October to gather information surrounding his alleged role in inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol in 2021 to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election results. Trump then sued to challenge the subpoena.
“Was just advised that the Unselect Committee of political Thugs has withdrawn the Subpoena of me concerning the January 6th Protest of the CROOKED 2020 Presidential Election,” Trump exclaimed on Truth Social after the subpoena’s cancellation. “They probably did so because they knew I did nothing wrong, or they were about to lose in Court. Perhaps the FBI's involvement in RIGGING the Election played into their decision. In any event, the Subpoena is DEAD!”
In the last stretch of its probe, the panel also withdrew subpoenas seeking the phone records of Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka, former White House adviser Stephen Miller, elections lawyer Cleta Mitchell, and others.
Earlier this month, the committee referred Trump to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution on four charges related to his conduct leading up to and during the Capitol unrest in the wake of his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. Those charges included obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., making a false statement, and inciting an insurrection.
In its final report, released last week, the committee recommended Trump be barred from ever holding future state or federal office under the Fourteenth Amendment’s disqualification clause. Trump recently announced his third presidential bid.
A group of House Democrats recently proposed a bill to block Trump from holding future office, citing Section 3 of the aforementioned amendment, which stipulates that no one who swore to defend the Constitution and was involved in “insurrection or rebellion" shall "hold any office, civil or military, under the United States.”
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