The subpoenas, which follow record-keeping demands sent to 35 technology and social media companies in August, don’t look for the content of communications, but only the dates and times the calls and messages took place, a committee official said.
The commission has now interviewed more than 275 witnesses and is collaborating with some members of former Vice President Mike Pence’s inner circle, including Marc Short, his former chief of staff.
But several high-profile witnesses are blocking the panel, in accordance with a directive from Mr. Trump. The former president is fighting in court to block the release of documents requested by the commission that he says are subject to administrative law, although the Biden administration has refused to claim the claim.
The House voted in October to recommend that another Trump aide, Stephen K. Bannon, be charged with criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate. A federal grand jury then indicted him on two counts that could carry a total of up to two years in prison. A judge ordered a trial for Mr Bannon on Tuesday, July 18, meaning the selected commission will likely have to wait most of a year, if not longer, for a resolution of his case and possible cooperation from him.
The commission also recommended a contempt charge against Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department attorney who participated in Mr Trump’s attempts to invalidate the 2020 election results for refusing to cooperate with the investigation. The panel will wait to complete that referral until it can determine how much information Mr Clark is willing to provide during a statement scheduled for December 16. Mr Clark has said he will invoke his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination.
Another potential witness, John Eastman, a lawyer who wrote a memo that some in both parties likened to a coup blueprint to keep Mr Trump in power, has also indicated that he plans to appeal. on the Fifth Amendment in response to the committee’s subpoena. .
A third witness, political agent Roger J. Stone Jr., told the committee this week that he, too, intended to exercise his right to self-incrimination by defying a subpoena, refusing to attend an interview or submitting documents. Discuss.