Nine vote for Trump subpoena
LAWMAKERS probing the 2021 attack on the US Capitol voted to subpoena former president Donald Trump to testify on his role in the violence, in a major escalation of the sprawling inquiry weeks before it is due to wind up.
During what was expected to be its final hearing before the midterm elections, the House panel of seven Democrats and two Republicans agreed unanimously to compel Mr Trump’s appearance before investigators.
“We need to be fair and thorough and gain a full context for the evidence we’ve obtained. But the need for this committee to hear from Donald Trump goes beyond our fact-finding,” said Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the committee.
“This is a question about accountability to the American people. He must be accountable. He is required to answer for his actions.”
Subpoenas from the panel have proved difficult to enforce, with former White House aide Steve Bannon the only target yet convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply.
“Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago? Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting?” thundered Mr Trump, who has had a standing invitation to appear before the committee.
Reacting on his rightwing Truth Social platform,
Mr Trump said the committee was a “total ‘bust’ that has only served to further divide our country”.
Any subpoena would expire in any case with the new congressional term in January. Control of the House of Representatives is expected to flip after November elections to the Republicans, who plan to immediately end the investigation.
But the move marks an aggressive escalation of the probe, which has issued more than 100 subpoenas and interviewed more than 1000 people since its inception in 2021.
While no sitting president has ever been forced to testify before Congress, lawmakers have summoned former presidents to discuss their conduct in office.
Mr Trump didn’t say whether he would testify, but if he refuses to comply, the full House can hold him in criminal contempt in a vote recommending him for prosecution. The vote came as a shock coda to an already stunning hearing in which the committee offered fresh evidence that Mr Trump had planned to declare victory in the 2020 election – regardless of the outcome.
Mr Trump, who urged his supporters in a fiery speech near the White House to “fight like hell,” was impeached for inciting the mob to storm Congress to halt the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden.