The US congressional committee investigating last year's Capitol riot is issuing a legal summons for former President Donald Trump to testify.
"He is required to answer for his actions," said Representative Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat. If Trump does not comply with the summons, known as a subpoena, he could face criminal charges and imprisonment.
The select committee is looking into Trump supporters' storming of Congress on 6th January 2021. The panel's seven Democrats and two Republicans voted 9-0 in favour on Thursday of issuing the subpoena for the former Republican president to provide documents and testimony under oath in connection with the Capitol riot.
The subpoena is expected to be issued in the coming days, and include a deadline for when Trump must either comply or face punishment. The surprise move came during the investigation's ninth and possibly final public hearing for the investigation into last year's raid on Congress.
At Thursday's session the committee said it would focus on Trump's "state of mind" as he refused to admit defeat to Biden in the presidential election of November 2020. Trump who has lambasted the inquiry as a ruse designed to distract US voters from the "disaster" of Democratic governance - is widely expected to refuse to testify and fight the subpoena.
His former political strategist, Steve Bannon, also flouted a similar legal summons from the select committee to testify, and he was found guilty in July of criminal contempt of Congress. On Thursday, Trump (who has been hinting he may run for president in 2024) questioned on his Truth Social platform why the committee did not ask him months ago to testify.
"Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting?" he posted. "Because the Committee is a total 'BUST' that has only served to further divide our Country which, by the way, is doing very badly -
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What do you think about votes to issue subpoena for Trump testimony?
It's kind of pointless considering that the house doesn't actually have the power to force that, and he'd be well within his rights (as well as historical precedent) to tell the committee to pound sand (in more colorful terms). The entire thing was theater meant to distract from the federal government's abysmal performance reports issued on the same days as the broadcasts, and if an actual criminal case could be made, they'd take him to an actual court. If they were to do that though, then it would incriminate dozens of other politicians, directors, and their minions in everything from purjury to sedition (and plausibly actual incitement with hard evidence rather than stretched conjecture), and since most of those people are tied to the swamp one way or another, it'll never happen. Gotta protect "our democracy" after all...
Of course Trump is so full of himself that it wouldn't be all that surprising if he went anyway. He's a bull in a china shop half of the time.
How many times have the Democratic party had Trump investigated? How many times has he been found guilty in any investigation? ZERO!!
I resent that the Democratic party continues to waste millions of tax payers money on their nothing burger investigations. Why doesn't Congress pass some Bills to help the American people? They aren't doing the just b that the tax payers pay them to do. They don't do anything else except sit on their thumbs! Isn't it can't that two of the people in Congress doing the investigation were Republicans that hate Donald Trump. One was Liz (Les) Cheney who has public said that she is going to do everything she can to keep Trump out of the White House in 2024. She just LOST at the reelection for her to be in Congress again. She us just a citizen now, and nothing else! Trump shouldn't be acceptable to her. She's a big fat LOOSER! I thought the subpoena was not decided yet. But if they do subpoena him, I hope he stands on the 5th Amendment (which does NOT show guilty) and doesn't give them the pleasure of taking one more piece of him. I think he has finally had it with those insane Democrats when they raided his home. Perhaps his attorney's will give him their best advice and we will just have to hide and watch how this will go down.
I'm curious what they'll do if he keeps pleading the 5th. They won't get shit from him!
It's laughable. After seeing the last 22 months of hell the democrats won't get top many votes and the subpoena will be null and void after the midterms. It is, and it always was, a stunt and a propaganda "orange man bad" attempt to get more blue votes
"Our MAGA movement is, by far, the greatest political movement in the history of our Country, because I am fighting for YOU, YOUR home, YOUR heritage, and YOUR freedom," Trump wrote in the fundraising email.
After filling out a survey with questions such as "Are you concerned about the Radical Left's effect on this country?", Trump prompts supporters to donate at least $45 to the Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, which is composed of two of his post-presidential political committees: Save America and Make America Great Again PAC.
Have as many show trials as you want. Without evidence you're just jerking off in public looking like a freak. What do you think happens when all the spy gate shit comes out and the FBI falls? What do you think happens when all the Iran shit comes out and people get hung for treason, people like Obama? What do you think happens when all the Ukraine stuff comes out? What about the China stuff? What about Hunter's laptop? Epstein island? Racine? There is so much evidence against all the people conducting the show trial and all of their friends... That's just the tip of the iceberg... There is no escape for those people attacking Trump. The jig is up.
Past presidents have immunity from prosecution for events that took place during the term in office. This is all a dog and pony show. Do you have any idea how many consecutive life sentences Bill Clinton and Barack Obama would be serving if either of them were to be charged with professional misconduct while president?
Is that an answer? That doesn’t sound like an answer. Are presidents allowed to commit crimes while in office with no worry of repercussions? If professional misconduct is worthy of consecutive life sentences, what do you think stealing top secret files should get?
@UCrayCray it depends if they are still classified or not. It also depends if the position of the person taking them is the source of all declassification authority. Documented standing orders to the effect of declassification are also relevant. Just stop, that issue is already over. As for the crimes question, Bill Clinton raped people and walked away a free man.
Do you truly believe that presidents are immune from being held responsible for crimes committed during their administration? You already made the statement once, I’m just looking for a little clarification because it’s simply not true. And I’d also like to know more about your thoughts on the professional misconduct’s worthiness of consecutive life sentences verses that of stealing top secret files? I don’t care what justification you have for the stealing of those files, I just want to know which you think is worse.
@UCrayCray provide evidence of theft and we can have that conversation. I assume your Trump derangement syndrome has triggered and you are referring to orange man bad which has already been settled and the news cycle has changed.
It doesn’t matter what either of us believe about presidential immunity, it is de facto whether it de jure or not.
I do so love how any opposition to Trump is written off as Trump Derangement Syndrome. You guys are so desperate for people to stop talking about him, and all the shitty things he does, that the mere mention of his name in any sort if negative light automatically brings out cries of TDS. You guys are so predictable it cracks me up. Seriously. Why can’t you just answer the question. I’m not asking you to convict Trump. He hasn’t even been charged. I’m just curious, if you think professional misconduct is worthy of many consecutive life sentences, would the stealing of classified documents be worthy of more or less time, in your opinion? Simple 🤷♀️ Nothing needs to be proven in order to answer that question.
@UCrayCray let me give you an example. As a librarian I work with books all day, but I can’t steal them because I’m in control of what’s checked out to whom. You are not comparing apples to apples here because of the implications in this context so your question is invalid. There are statutes and procedures for convicting military personnel or contractors of espionage, but it is patently absurd according to more experienced legal professionals than either of us that the source of declassification authority could steal any information that office has access to. If you are actually curious not just looking to score talking points, the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Espionage act contain the information you are looking for as regards people they are applicable to.
I know you are naturally compelled to defend all things Trump. I get it. You just can’t bring yourself to say that this specific behavior is criminal for fear that Trump might have done just that. His claims of executive privilege seem to be falling apart, but we’ll just have to wait and see where it goes. Until then, you just keep grasping at straws trying to explain why what Trump did was legal. You never know, his lawyers might need your help.
What I think? I think it's a waste of tax dollars. Do average people just simply not understand that this whole subpoena is a propaganda thing? After midterms the subpoena will be null and void. Trump is never gonna have to do anything. It's a scam. The whole "committee" thing was a tv show. It wasn't a legal process.
@UCrayCray None. Politicians often speak in hyperbole, yet we don't prosecute, for example Bernie or Joe Biden because someone took their rhetoric to mean it was okay to shoot Steve Scalise and others or to run over a kid for being a Trump supporter.
Do you have any idea how stupid that is? Yes, politicians speak in hyperbole. They throw out lines, sometimes in the heat of the moment, to get reactions from their supporters. That’s not the same thing as telling people over and over again that they are at risk of losing their country, their livelihood and everything they have ever known if the don’t fight for it. He said “protest peacefully and patriotically” once, but you all want to latch to into that like that was the main message. It wasn’t. The message was “Fight. Fight for your life.” That’s more than just hyperbole.
Sounds as though it is an act of desperation by congressional committee who have not been able to prove their assertion that Trump incited 'storming of Congress'. I'm watching this from outside the US and am not affected by the politics of the US.
My dear, I personally pay a lot of love to the Liberal Democrats of America. I know that the largest number loves good and is humane. But I never encourage the government of the United States of America, I do not encourage Biden or Trump, because they kill and steal the peoples of the Middle East and support terrorist families.. Please, as much as possible, help me spread this accompanying campaign. Save what's left in Syria Lift the economic embargo on us.
@exitseven what people fail to realize is that "the hearings" was just a tv show. In 3 weeks this "subpoena" is worth about as much as what I just flushed
Excited to see him under oath. I expect to hear a couple hours of "5th" until he says "5th" on something that was meant to defend him. Or an emotional outburst.
There won't be any testimony. There is a separation of powers dispute over whether the House even has the authority to subpoena someone for actions taken while he/she was POTUS, so it would be litigated till long after the Republicans retake the House and dismiss the investigation, an investigation that even CNN admits interests most Americans less than the cost of French fries. Seriously.
Nice to finally see some backbone shown over there. If they are innocent nothing would become of it. People panicking defensively only sound like they have doubt and suspicions of their own.
I think he's an ass wipe, narcissist, circus clown and a criminal. It's time to prosecute him for his wrong doings, including tax evasion, and move on as a country - IF his dumb as cultist supporters can see the truth about him.
lol So as a legal expert you of course know that if a prosecutor makes that claim in a court case the judge is very likely to dismiss the charges with prejudice?
@TroyDT2 No prosecutor is ever going to make the above statement in open court. Why did you feel the need to state the obvious? These are Trump’s own words on what pleading the 5th means….. and he’s essentially correct.
@TroyDT2 All I know is that I’ve testified in court numerous times due to my job and I’ve never felt that giving truthful testimony about my conduct would be problematic for me criminally. Even though the prosecution cannot make the case that pleading the 5th implies guilt, it does just that.
