WASHINGTON (AP) — A committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has issued subpoenas to six associates of former President Donald Trump who were involved in his efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.
The new subpoenas further escalate the panel’s probe into the origins of the violent attack.
The panel’s chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, said in a statement Monday that the committee is demanding testimony and documents from former Trump campaign officials and others who strategized about how to halt the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in a so-called “war room” ahead of the siege.
“In the days before the January 6th attack, the former President’s closest allies and advisors drove a campaign of misinformation about the election and planned ways to stop the count of Electoral College votes,” wrote Thompson. “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.”
The committee issued subpoenas to the following six people: William Stepien, Jason Miller, Angela McCallum, John Eastman, Michael Flynn and Bernard Kerik.
Stepien, Miller and McCallum worked on the Trump 2020 reelection campaign as manager, senior and national executive assistant, respectively.
The committee says Eastman advised Trump and others that Vice President Mike Pence could reject electors from states to deny Biden a majority of the Electoral College vote.
Flynn reportedly attended an Oval Office meeting during which participants discussed seizing voting machines, declaring a national emergency, invoking certain national security emergency powers and continuing to spread the false message that the 2020 election had been tainted by widespread fraud, according to the committee.
And Kerik reportedly participated in a meeting at the Willard Hotel in which Rudy Giuliani, Stephen Bannon and others allegedly discussed options for overturning the results of the 2020 election.
“The Select Committee expects all witnesses to cooperate with our investigation as we work to get answers for the American people, recommend changes to our laws that will strengthen our democracy, and help ensure nothing like January 6th ever happens again,” Thompson said.
