6 subpoenaed in widening Capitol riot probe

WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol issued six new subpoenas, digging deeper into the rallies that preceded the mob violence and organizers’ meetings with then-President Donald Trump.

Those who were issued subpoenas Friday included Robert “Bobby” Peede Jr., a former director of the White House advance team, and Max Miller, a former Trump White House aide, who both met with Trump in his private dining room by the Oval Office on Jan. 4 to discuss the rally planned for two days later at the Ellipse. Another who was issued a subpoena is Brian Jack, Trump’s former political affairs director who reached out to several members of Congress to ask them to speak at the Jan. 6 rally. Jack is currently the political director for Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, the GOP leader.

Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., accepted Jack’s invitation, the committee said. At the rally, Brooks wore body armor onstage as he told the crowd to “start taking down names and kicking ass.”

“Some of the witnesses we subpoenaed today apparently worked to stage the rallies on Jan. 5 and 6, and some appeared to have had direct communication with the former president regarding the rally at the Ellipse directly preceding the attack on the U.S. Capitol,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chair of the committee.

The committee also issued subpoenas for Bryan Lewis, who obtained a permit for the Jan. 6 rally to “urge Congress to nullify electoral votes from states that made illegal changes to voting rules during their elections,” and Ed Martin, an organizer of the Stop the Steal movement who the committee said was involved in the planning and financing of the rally immediately before the attack.

The committee said Martin worked closely with Ali Alexander, a prominent organizer of Stop the Steal rallies around the country who has ties to far-right members of Congress. Alexander is cooperating with committee, delivering a trove of documents that could shed light on the activities preceding the attack. At Stop the Steal events in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6, he repeatedly referred to the possible use of violence to achieve his organization’s goals, including leading a crowd in Washington on Jan. 5 in a chant of “victory or death.”

The panel also issued a subpoena to Kimberly Fletcher and her organization, Moms for America, which helped organize a Jan. 5 rally at Freedom Plaza and the Jan. 6 rally at the Ellipse supporting Trump’s false allegations of election fraud.

The subpoenas call for the witnesses to produce documents this month and to sit for depositions in January. The committee has already interviewed nearly 300 witnesses.