WASHINGTON - The House committee investigating the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol on Wednesday withdrew the subpoena it had issued to former President Donald Trump, conceding that the lawmakers had run out of time to obtain his documents or testimony.
The committee is set to dissolve on Jan 3. It waited until October to issue a subpoena to Mr Trump, who promptly sued the panel to try to block it.
The panel had directed Mr Trump to produce an extensive list of documents and communications - including phone calls, texts, encrypted messages and e-mails - related to nearly every aspect of his effort to invalidate the 2020 election between Nov 3, 2020, and Jan 6, 2021.
But Mr Trump’s suit made it highly unlikely that he would ever testify, given the committee’s end date.
On Wednesday, Representative Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat and the chair of the committee, made that official, writing to Mr Trump’s legal team and informing them that he was withdrawing the panel’s subpoena.
Mr Thompson wrote. “In light of the imminent end of our investigation, the select committee can no longer pursue the specific information covered by the subpoena.”
Ms Harmeet K. Dhillon, one of Mr Trump’s lawyers, celebrated the development on Twitter.
“After my firm filed suit on separation of powers grounds to block Jan 6 House Select Committee’s illegitimate subpoena to President Trump over his activities while president - the committee waved the white flag & withdrew subpoena,” she wrote.
A committee spokesperson declined to comment.
Mr Thompson is sending similar letters to other witnesses as the panel wraps up its work.
A nearly identical letter was sent to Mr Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for Pennsylvania governor, whom the panel had sought to question. Mr Mastriano had been a central figure in Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Pennsylvania.
“I hereby formally withdraw the subpoena issued to Mr Mastriano, and notify you that he is no longer obligated to comply or produce records in response to said subpoena,” Mr Thompson wrote to Mr Mastriano’s lawyer. NYTIMES
