US House Committee subpoenas six more Trump associates in Capitol probe

The US House select committee investigating the Capitol attack has issued subpoenas to six former US President Donald Trump’s associates who were involved in the efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The Committee wants those subpoenaed to sit for a deposition scheduled between November 30 and December 13. In a statement, the committee’s chairman, Bennie Thompson said that the panel is demanding testimony and documents from former Trump campaign officials and others who participated in a “war room” ahead of the siege and strategised about how to halt the certification of Joe Biden’s victory. 

According to AP, the committee issued new subpoenas to Bill Stepien, manager of Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign; Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the campaign; Angela McCallum, national executive assistant to the campaign; John Eastman, a lawyer who advised the former president; Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser to Trump; and Bernard Kerik, who the committee says paid for hotel rooms that served as command centres ahead of January 6. 

“In the days before the January 6th attack, the former president’s closest allies and advisers drove a campaign of misinformation about the election and planned ways to stop the count of Electoral College votes,” Thompson said. 

He added, “The Select Committee needs to know every detail about their efforts to overturn the election, including who they were talking to in the White House and in Congress, what connections they had with rallies that escalated into a riot, and who paid for it all.”

Trump ally refuses to comply with the subpoena 

Thompson informed Trump associates that the committee has uncovered “credible evidence” of their participation in the former US President’s efforts to overturn the election. He even cited ways that they individually tried to further Trump’s cause. In Bill Stepien subpoena, the Committee chairman cited the testimony of an unnamed witness in saying he oversaw the “conversion” of Trump’s presidential campaign to a "Stop the Steal” effort. 

The additional subpoenas come after the panel demanded documents and testimony from several other Trump advisers. Last month, the House had voted to hold longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon in contempt after he refused to comply with his subpoena. Citing a source on the panel, The Guardian reported that the members of the select committee took the assertive step against Bannon to sound an alarm to officials who worked with Trump, who has been impeached over the 6 January insurrection that followed his controversial address to his supporters. Meanwhile, the former US President himself is also fighting a probe in court. 

(With inputs from AP)

Image: AP