October 13, 2022 12:22 PM UTC

Jan. 6 Committee Drops Bombshells, Votes to Subpoena Trump

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE #2: In a unanimous vote, the committee voted to subpoena Trump himself. From The New York Times:

“He is required to answer for his actions,” said Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee, at the end of what was possibly the panel’s final public session. “He is required to answer to those police officers who put their lives and bodies on the line to defend our democracy.”

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UPDATE:

Secret Service chat from January 6: “POTUS just tweeted about Pence, probably not going to be good for Pence.” pic.twitter.com/UE3KLjTsDM

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 13, 2022

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The final pre-election hearing of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection is taking place as we type this sentence, and it looks like they may be close to reeling in the biggest fish of them all.

As The Washington Post reports:

The House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is planning to vote during Thursday’s hearing to subpoena former president Donald Trump, according to three individuals with knowledge of the vote.

The individuals did not say whether they are seeking the former president’s direct testimony or more documents beyond those the committee has already received.

The chances of Donald Trump actually heeding a subpoena are probably not good, but this is still a major step in the investigation of Trump’s coup attempt.

Today’s hearing is also revealing some startling new information about Trump’s direct involvement in the insurrection. The Jan. 6 committee said today that Trump directly participated in an effort to use fake electors to overturn the election. Again, from the Post:

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel told the committee that Trump’s attorney, John Eastman, called her asking her to arrange for the fake electors to meet and rehearse the process of casting their fake votes.

“I don’t remember the exact date it was,” she said. “It was from the White House switchboard, and it was President Trump, who in turn contacted and he introduced me to a gentleman named John Eastman.” 

“And then essentially, he turned the call over to Mr. Eastman, who then proceeded to talk about the importance of the RNC helping the campaign gather these contingent electors,” McDaniel added. [Pols emphasis]

The House committee also presented evidence that the Secret Service KNEW that armed Trump supporters were going to show up to the U.S. Capitol.

Secret Service documents make it clear: They knew that Trump’s supporters were planning for violence on January 6th. Trump only continued to raise the temperature.

MAGA Republicans are now following that same pattern. #OathBreakerMAGA pic.twitter.com/bmd8Q1sD2a

— CAP Action (@CAPAction) October 13, 2022

We’ll update this post with more information as it becomes available.