Kash Patel at center of a subpoena battle
INDIAN AMERICAN Kash Patel is at the center of a subpoena battle between the House Democrats investigating the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill and senior officials who worked for the former president Donald Trump.
The first batch of subpoenas has been issued by the select committee investigating the riots. The panel is investigating the role of various officials in the Trump administration in the riot, which was intended to stop the certification of then President-elect Joe Biden over Trump.
Reports said that the subpoena was delivered to Patel, who served as the chief of staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller in the waning days of the Trump administration. Others former Trump officials who received subpoena include former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, and Dan Scavino, former White House deputy chief of staff.
The committee requested Patel and Bannon to appear on October 14. But it is learnt that the issue now will move to court as the officials claimed F‘executive privilege.
However, the Biden administration has specifically waived executive privilege for the four men and requested their testimony. If the four former officials pursue a legal defense, a court must decide if a former president can invoke it for his administration, or if it includes testimony related to the attacks.
Patel told in a statement that he was ‘disappointed, but not surprised.’ He said, ‘I will continue to tell the truth to the American people about the events of January 6.’
He had received a lot of attention recently as he was accused by Trump’s former top Russia adviser Fiona Hill of ‘running a secret backchannel to President Trump on Ukraine matters.’
Patel became more active in US-Ukraine ties while on the National Security Council, to the point that Trump considered him as the designated point man on the issue.