Jan. 6 panel subpoenas extremist groups

WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection issued subpoenas Tuesday to extremist organizations including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, in an attempt to uncover the plotting and execution of the deadly attack.

The panel “is seeking information from individuals and organizations reportedly involved with planning the attack, with the violent mob that stormed the Capitol ... or with efforts to overturn the results of the election,” panel Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said in a statement.

The House committee has cast a wide net as it investigates the attack by supporters of former President Trump. Fueled by his false claims of a stolen election, they assaulted police and smashed their way into the Capitol to interrupt the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory.

The panel has already interviewed over 150 people from government, social media and law enforcement, including some former Trump aides. More than 20 witnesses have been subpoenaed, and most, including several who helped plan the “Stop the Steal” rally the morning of Jan. 6, have signaled they will cooperate.

The latest subpoenas seek documents and testimony from the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys and the 1st Amendment Praetorian as well as the groups’ leaders and members.

More than 30 Proud Boys leaders, members or associates have already been charged in connection with the attack. The self-described “Western chauvinists” emerged from far-right fringes during the Trump administration.

Elmer Stewart Rhodes, leader of the Oath Keepers militia group, is suspected of suggesting that members use violence to ensure the election’s outcome, and was in contact with several of the dozen-plus Oath Keepers indicted in the attack.

The 1st Amendment Praetorian’s chair, Robert Patrick Lewis, was listed as a speaker on the permit for a Jan. 5 rally in Washington. On Jan. 6, he tweeted: “Today is the day that true battles begin.”