January 6 committee formally subpoenas Trump saying he ‘orchestrated’ an effort to overturn election

The congressional investigation into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on Friday formally demanded that Donald Trump provide documents and testimony under oath.

The nine-member House January 6 committee said it had sent a subpoena to the former president, setting the scene for another legal battle and possible criminal charges for Trump if he does comply.

It was issued on the day that Steve Bannon, one of Trump’s former top advisers, was sentenced to four months in prison for refusing to cooperate with the lawmakers.

In an accompanying letter, Chairman Bennie Thompson and Vice Chair Liz Cheney, said: ‘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.’

They ordered Trump to produce the documents by November 4 and to appear for a deposition on or around November 14.

The House select committee investigating the January 6 said Friday it had sent a subpoena to former President Donald Trump demanding he turn over documents and sit for a deposition

Former President Donald Trump has until November 4 to respond. He is shown here at a rally on the Ellipse near the White House, before his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol

A mob of Trump supporters clashed with police and stormed the Capitol on January 9 last year after listening to the then president rail against the 2020 election result and repeat his unfounded claims of fraud.

They wielded  sledgehammers, Tasers, poles and chemical irritants as they fought their way into the building in an attempt to block congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory. 

Throughout their public hearings, the committee has probed witnesses on Trump’s role in egging on protesters and whether he really believed he was the rightful winner. 

In their final public hearing, the committee’s seven Democratic and two Republican members voted unanimously in favor of subpoenaing Trump. 

In their letter, the chair and vice chair say his legal efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were rejected by 60 courts and point out that even his own Department of Justice and advisers had told him the election was lost. 

‘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,’ they write. 

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Trump supporters clashed with police as they stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on January 6 last year in an effort to stop Congress certifying Joe Biden’s win

The letter also sets out the scale of their investigation into a riot that shocked the nation. It included more than 1000 witnesses and one million documents. 

Trump did not immediately respond to the subpoena.

But last week a source familiar with his thinking said he wanted to testify live before the committee in order to denounce it was a witch hunt.

The spectacle would be a ratings blockbuster, but the committee has rejected all but one witness request to attach conditions to their testimony.