The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol is expected to vote Thursday to subpoena former President Trump.
The committee’s members, seven Democrats and two anti-Trump Republicans, will hold a vote to compel the former president to testify about his conduct leading up to the incident, sources tell Fox News. Trump has previously refused to voluntarily cooperate with the panel, calling it a partisan witch hunt.
“What Donald Trump proceeded to do after the 2020 election is something no president had done before in our country,” said Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. “In a staggering betrayal of his oath, Donald Trump attempted a plan that led to an attack on a pillar of our democracy.”
The vote will come during the panel’s 10th public hearing on Thursday. Much of the hearing has focused on Trump’s state of mind in the days leading up to the attack.
REPUBLICANS PLANNING TO RELEASE OWN REPORT ON JANUARY 6 SECURITY FAILINGS
Lawmakers argued that Trump had admitted to White House aides that he had lost the 2020 contest but still worked to overturn the result to cling to power. Members of the committee said that conduct had emboldened extremist groups to breach the U.S. Capitol as Congress was preparing to certify President Biden’s Electoral College victory.
“The vast weight of evidence presented so far has shown us that the central cause of January 6 was one man, Donald Trump, who many others followed,” said Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. “None of this would have happened without him. He was personally and substantially involved in all of it.”
Few expect the former president to comply with the subpoena.
Trump is currently facing many legal battles, including over classified documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago home.
A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
