Tricky by his resounding defeat in Alabama’s Republican runoff election for the Senate on Tuesday and a rejection of former President Donald J. Trump, Representative Mo Brooks now appears willing to testify as part of the Jan. 6 investigation.
Mr. Brooks indicated on Wednesday that he would comply with an threatening subpoena from the House bipartisan committee leading the investigation into the Capitol attack, but only under certain conditions.
His comments to the media, reported by DailyExpertNews on Wednesday, came a day after he lost a bitter primary to Katie Britt. Mr Trump withdrew his endorsement from Mr Brooks in March when he began to slip in the polls, expressing his support for Ms Britt in the final weeks of the campaign.
Mr Brooks lamented his loss, telling a Politico reporter that the “bad guys won†
His willingness to testify before the House committee depended on his willingness to “do this in public for the public to see — so that bits and pieces don’t trickle out,” Mr Brooks said, according to DailyExpertNews. .
The congressman added that he would only testify on matters related to Jan. 6, 2021, and would like to see copies of any documents that could be requested from him beforehand, the network reported.
Mr Brooks was not available for an interview on Thursday and his office declined to comment on his comments.
Brooks, a far-right Republican and once a fierce ally of Trump, accused by the former president of being “awake,” has drawn much criticism for his actions ahead of the January 6 violence.
Outfitted in body armor at a rally before the siege, Mr Brooks urged Trump supporters who denied the election to “bring a fist.”
But as of Wednesday, Representative Bennie G. Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat and head of the Jan. 6 commission, acknowledged that Mr. Brooks still had not received a subpoena. Mr. Thompson said trial servers in Washington were unable to locate Mr. Brooks because he had campaigned in Alabama.
Key Revelations from the January 6 Hearings
Brooks’ disclosure that he could cooperate to some extent in the Jan. 6 investigation was met with disdain and scorn on social media by some of Mr Trump’s supporters, who characterized him as a defector.
The estrangement between the now crippled congressman and the former president was astonishing.
By withdrawing his endorsement, Mr. Trump had criticized Mr. Brooks for comments made at a rally last summer, when Mr. Brooks urged Mr. Trump’s supporters to move beyond the 2020 election. Still, even after the humiliating rejection, Mr. Brooks persisted in holding on to Mr. Trump’s lies about voter fraud.
Mr. Brooks lost the runoff election by 25 percentage points to Ms. Britt, a lawyer and former chief of staff to Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican who is retiring at the end of the year.
Since then, Mr Brooks has said he is retiring from politics, but he is not going quietly.
“Voters have spoken, but not wisely,” Brooks said on election night in Huntsville, Ala.
Deborah Storey contributed to reporting from Huntsville.
