Tracking the January 6 Commission - Page 6
The National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex, known colloquially as the January 6 commission, known colloquially as the January 6 commission, was a proposed commission that would have investigated the 2021 United States Capitol attack.
Grace PanettaMark Meadows sent emails as early as November 7, 2020 about a plot for Republican-controlled states to send "alternate" slates of presidential electors to Congress on January 6, 2021, and also texted a member of Congress about the idea, saying, "I love it," according to the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection. The House panel probing the events of January 6 is in a showdown with Meadows, a former Republican congressman and former President Donald Trump's final chief of staff, to obtain testimony and records related to his involvement in the lead-up to the riot. more...
Sarah Al-ArshaniGeorgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the state's top election official who refused former President Donald Trump's request to "find" him votes so he could win the state in the 2020 election, was interviewed by the January 6 select committee for four hours on Tuesday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The Journal-Constitution reported that Raffensperger said he spoke with House lawmakers about the January phone call in which Trump asked him to help him win the state. Raffensperger, a Republican, has previously said "there is no doubt" that President Joe Biden won in the state. more...
By Katelyn Polantz and Tierney Sneed, CNN(CNN) The DC US Circuit Court of Appeals cast major doubt on former President Trump's arguments that the court should block the release of his presidential documents for Congress' January 6 investigation. Over the course of a three hour and 40 minute hearing Tuesday, the judges expressed skepticism of Trump's claims, as they grappled with the question of what role courts should play in disputes when an incumbent president has declined to assert an executive privilege claim that a former president seeks to assert. "This all boils down to who decides. Who decides when it is in the best interest of the United States to disclose presidential records? Is it the current occupant of the White House or the former?" said Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. The Trump team was battered with tough questions from the three judges, who signaled that they were not interested in doing document-by-document review of the records Trump says should be withheld. more...
Bart Jansen | USA TODAYWASHINGTON – Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is now cooperating with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, possibly averting a contempt citation for defying the panel's subpoena for documents and testimony. “Mr. Meadows has been engaging with the Select Committee through his attorney," committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said Tuesday. "He has produced records to the committee and will soon appear for an initial deposition." While acknowledging Meadows' cooperation, Thompson said he did not rule out future action. more...
By Jason LemonRoger Stone, an ally of former President Donald Trump, claimed this week that former Trump aide Katrina Pierson was "deeply involved" with the violence of the January 6 attack targeting the U.S. Capitol. Posting to Telegram early Thursday morning, Stone appeared to suggest that Pierson deserved a great deal of blame for the pro-Trump attack against the legislative branch of government. Stone also seemed to be unaware that Pierson—like himself—has been subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack."Given what I know, I am perplexed as to why the January 6 committee has not issued a subpoena to Katrina Pierson, in other words, someone deeply involved in the violent and unlawful acts of January 6, rather than me, given that I was not there and have no advance knowledge or involvement whatsoever in the events at the Capitol That day #Jan6Cmte," Stone wrote in a message to his Telegram channel subscribers. more...
Savannah Behrmann | USA TODAYWASHINGTON – The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday a batch of new subpoenas for several far right groups, including the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. “The Select Committee is seeking information from individuals and organizations reportedly involved with planning the attack, with the violent mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6th, or with efforts to overturn the results of the election," Committee Chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in a statement. "We believe the individuals and organizations we subpoenaed today have relevant information about how violence erupted at the Capitol and the preparation leading up to this violent attack." more...
By Zachary Cohen, Ryan Nobles, Annie Grayer and Whitney Wild, CNN(CNN) The House select committee investigating the January 6 riot issued a new round of subpoenas on Monday to five of former President Donald Trump's allies directly involved in planning "Stop the Steal" rallies, including longtime Republican operative Roger Stone and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The latest batch of subpoenas indicates the committee continues to focus, in part, on organizers and funding of the "Stop the Steal" rallies that took place on January 5 and 6, as well as earlier rallies in the months leading up to the US Capitol attack. Also subpoenaed by the committee Monday: Dustin Stockton and Jennifer Lawrence, key players in the "Stop the Steal" movement after the election, who the committee noted are engaged to each other. more...
By Harper NeidigThe select House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack told a federal appeals court on Monday that it urgently needs extensive records from former President Trump's White House, arguing that more time would hinder its probe."Delay itself would inflict a serious constitutional injury on the Select Committee by interfering with its legislative duty. The Select Committee needs the documents now because they will shape the direction of the investigation," the panel's attorneys wrote in a filing with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. "For example, the documents could inform which witnesses to depose and what questions to ask them, as well as whether further subpoenas should be issued to others." more...
Travis GettysBob Woodward predicted that evidence would emerge that could unravel Donald Trump's unconstitutional plot to block Joe Biden from the White House. The veteran journalist and his Washington Post colleague and co-author Robert Costa appeared Friday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," where they discussed the indictment of Trump ally Steve Bannon, who they said was at the center of a criminal conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government -- and Woodward identified some of the key questions in the Jan. 6 investigation. more...
By Zachary Cohen, Hannah Rabinowitz and Chandelis Duster, CNN(CNN) Steve Bannon won't be detained before trial on charges of contempt of Congress after he failed to comply with subpoenas from the House committee investigating January 6. Bannon, a former adviser to former President Donald Trump, appeared in federal court for the first time Monday. He will be arraigned on Thursday. Prosecutors did not seek to detain Bannon before trial. Under conditions approved by the judge, Bannon agreed to weekly check-ins, to surrender his passport, provide notice of any travel outside the district and seek court approval for travel outside the continental United States. more...
By Caroline Linton, Melissa QuinnWashington — Former President Donald Trump's one-time top adviser Steve Bannon turned himself in on Monday on criminal contempt charges after he refused to show up for a deposition ordered by the House January 6 committee. Bannon was indicted last Friday by a federal grand jury on two counts of contempt of Congress. He arrived at the FBI's Washington Field Office and was taken into federal custody Monday morning. more...
By Paul LeBlanc, CNNWashington (CNN)Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn's call for "one religion" in the US to win the battle of good versus evil has garnered sharp backlash from a range of critics. Flynn, who was subpoenaed last week by the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack, made the comment during a speech to a conservative Christian audience on the ReAwaken America tour in Texas this weekend. "If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion," he said. "One nation under God and one religion under God, right? All of us, working together." more...
Two Charges Filed for Failing to Honor House Subpoena From Select Committee Investigating Jan. 6 Capitol BreachStephen K. Bannon was indicted today by a federal grand jury on two counts of contempt of Congress stemming from his failure to comply with a subpoena issued by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol.Bannon, 67, is charged with one contempt count involving his refusal to appear for a deposition and another involving his refusal to produce documents, despite a subpoena from the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol. An arraignment date has not yet been set in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. more...
John WrightIn response to a request from former president Donald Trump, a federal appeals court has temporarily delayed the release of White House records related to the Capitol insurrection, which was set to begin Friday. "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Thursday granted an administrative stay sought by Trump. The stay is intended to give the court time to consider Trump's arguments against release of the documents, which was otherwise scheduled for Friday without a court order," ABC News reports. "The appeals court set arguments in the case for Nov. 30." more...
Reporter also pointed out that another key Trump loyalist has previously waived attorney-client privilege in public, making it harder to refuse to testifyAndrew NaughtieLegendary Washington journalist Bob Woodward, whose reporting has thrown shocking light on the end of the Trump presidency, has said that some of the ex-president’s inner circle may be guilty of conspiracy to defraud the US. In particular, Mr Woodward was referring to disgraced former national security adviser Mike Flynn, who has been subpoenaed along with several other Trump allies by the committee investigating the 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol. Asked by New Day host Brianna Keilar about his reporting on Mr Flynn’s conduct leading up to the insurrection, during which time he allegedly discussed imposing martial law, Mr Woodward said that while the select committee may struggle to compel witnesses to testify on its own, the Justice Department may have more leverage. more...
By Jamie Gangel, Zachary Cohen and Michael Warren, CNNWashington (CNN) The House select committee investigating January 6 is interested in gathering information from at least five members of former Vice President Mike Pence's inner circle, according to three sources familiar with the effort. Among them is Pence's former national security adviser, Keith Kellogg, who was subpoenaed by the committee on Tuesday and was with former President Donald Trump most of the day on January 6.Multiple sources tell CNN that some individuals close to Pence may be willing, either voluntarily or under the guise of a "friendly subpoena," to provide critical information on how Trump and his allies tried to pressure the former vice president to overturn the results of the 2020 election. According to sources familiar with the discussions, some Pence aides are proving more willing to engage with the committee than previously made public. more...
Donald Trump didn't just lose his case demanding secrecy for his Jan. 6 materials, he did so in dramatic fashion.By Steve BenenDonald Trump and his legal team have spent weeks fighting to keep secret White House documents related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. As NBC News reported overnight, a federal judge has handed the former president an important defeat. The federal judge seemed wholly unimpressed with Team Trump's legal arguments, explaining in her ruling that the former president "does not acknowledge the deference owed to the incumbent President's judgment. His position that he may override the express will of the executive branch appears to be premised on the notion that his executive power 'exists in perpetuity.' But Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President. more...
By Katelyn Polantz, CNN Reporter, Crime and Justice(CNN) A federal judge will allow the US House to access hundreds of pages of documents from Donald Trump's presidency leading up to and about the January 6 attack at the US Capitol, in a forceful rejection of Trump's recent attempts to control information from his White House. The ruling on Tuesday from Judge Tanya Chutkan of the US District Court in DC is a blow to Trump's efforts to keep more than 700 pages of records from his White House secret -- though his legal team has informed the court it intends to appeal.As of now, the National Archives remains on track to turn over to the House a number of documents on Friday, including White House call logs, video logs and schedules related to January 6 as well as three pages of handwritten notes from Trump's then-chief of staff. The outcome in court also could help the House in its pursuit of more information from those around Trump, including witnesses who've been subpoenaed and haven't spoken to the committee yet. more...
Bart Jansen, USA TODAYWASHINGTON – A majority of Americans believe former President Donald Trump should testify before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, according to a Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll. The poll found 55% of respondents thought Trump should testify, compared with 38% who said he shouldn’t. Trump filed a federal lawsuit to block the committee from receiving administration documents and urged his aides not to cooperate with the inquiry. He has argued that executive privilege should protect his communications, but President Joe Biden has waived the privilege for the investigation. more...
By Annie Grayer, Zachary Cohen, Ryan Nobles and Whitney Wild, CNN(CNN) The House committee investigating the deadly January 6 riot at the US Capitol announced on Tuesday a new batch of 10 subpoenas to former White House officials under President Donald Trump, as the panel charges ahead in seeking testimony and documents from witnesses relevant to its probe. The subpoenas follow six others that were announced Monday. Tuesday's recipients are being asked to turn over documents to the committee on November 23, and depositions are scheduled throughout December. They are: more...
The Archives indicated it would turn documents over to lawmakers by Friday.By KYLE CHENEYIf you blinked you missed it. Former President Donald Trump filed an emergency request to a federal judge late Monday night to prevent the National Archives from sending sensitive records to Jan. 6 committee investigators by Friday. And just after midnight, Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected it, contending the request itself was legally defective and “premature.”The unusual exchange, which happened in a span of two hours, comes as Chutkan is already considering an earlier request by Trump to prevent Congress from peering into his White House’s records about his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Trump sued to block the National Archives from turning the records over last month, after President Joe Biden declined to assert executive privilege on his behalf. The Archives indicated it would turn the papers over to lawmakers by Friday, unless a court intervened. more...
Donald Trump takes the stage for a ‘Save America’ rally at York Family Farms on 21 August 2021 in Cullman, Alabama.Peter Stone in WashingtonEx-president wages a court battle to thwart House committee from obtaining White House records for inquiry into the Capitol assault. Donald Trump has suffered a series of legal setbacks and more loom, as he wages a court battle to thwart a House committee from obtaining White House records for its inquiry into the 6 January Capitol assault and a new grand jury begins hearing evidence about possible crimes by his real estate firm. Former justice officials and legal scholars say Trump’s long-standing penchant for using lawsuits to fend off investigations and opponents is looking weaker now that he’s out of the White House and facing legal threats on multiple fronts. more...
By Zachary Cohen, Ryan Nobles and Annie Grayer, CNN(CNN) The House select committee investigating the deadly January 6 riot on Capitol Hill announced Monday it is issuing six additional subpoenas to top Trump campaign associates as it continues to seek testimony and documents from key witnesses in the sweeping probe. With this round of subpoenas, the committee is targeting top individuals from former President Trump's reelection campaign who the panel says were involved in promoting the lie that the presidential election was stolen. The six subpoenas are going to: more...
Rep. Bennie Thompson said the committee was 'willing to take strong measures' after Jeffrey Clark refused to testify.By Dartunorro ClarkThe chairman of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol excoriated a former Trump Justice Department official on Friday over his refusal to answer questions about the attack during a scheduled deposition. Jeffrey Clark, a former acting head of the Justice Department's civil division who played a key role in then-President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election, frustrated members of the committee when he arrived on Capitol Hill with a 12-page letter from his attorney, obtained by Politico, explaining his refusal to testify. The letter, which included a statement from attorneys representing Trump in his lawsuit against the committee, argued that executive privilege prevented Clark from providing testimony. more...
The chair of the Hill select panel probing the Capitol riot said a contempt of Congress referral for Jeffrey Clark is "on the table."By BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN and KYLE CHENEYA top Trump Justice Department official who aided the former president’s quest to overturn the 2020 election refused to answer substantive questions in a meeting with congressional investigators on Friday. The former official, Jeffrey Clark, instead delivered a 12-page letter from his attorney — a lawyer who worked on a post-election lawsuit aimed at overturning the results in Georgia — defending his refusal to testify. The attorney, Harry MacDougald, wrote that Clark intended to wait at least until courts resolve Trump’s own lawsuit challenging the Jan. 6 select committee’s access to his White House records. more...
Cuomo Prime TimeA federal judge expressed deep skepticism of former President Donald Trump's arguments that he can keep documents from his White House secret during a historic court hearing related to the January 6 riot. video...
Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN(CNN) The House probe into the Capitol insurrection is making its most significant strides yet in gaining understanding of Donald Trump's behind-the-scenes maneuvering before and during his coup attempt against American democracy.The Democratic-led committee is acting on multiple fronts but is in a race against time. First, it is confronted by the ex-President's obstruction as he tries to dodge accountability. And haunting the panel's every move is the possibility of a new Republican-led House after the 2022 midterm elections that would likely close it down. The committee was in court Thursday fighting Trump's bid to keep documents about what happened in the White House on January 6 on dusty National Archives shelves. It's firing off new subpoenas as it tries to sketch a true picture of what really happened in the days running up to that shocking day. And on Friday, a key member of the inner circle that gathered around Trump ahead of those dark hours is expected to show up on Capitol Hill for an interview. more...
The information, from Donald Trump's White House files and from the rioters themselves, could dramatically reshape the public’s understanding of the insurrection.By KYLE CHENEY and JOSH GERSTEINMost Americans haven’t heard of Beryl Howell and Tanya Chutkan. Yet these two federal judges are poised to help deliver troves of hidden information to congressional investigators over the next few weeks that could dramatically reshape the public’s understanding of the Jan. 6 insurrection.On Thursday, Chutkan, a 2014 appointee of President Barack Obama, will weigh former President Donald Trump’s effort to shield his White House records from the Jan. 6 select committee. Her ruling there could help lawmakers obtain call records, visitor logs and highly sensitive files from Trump’s senior aides. more...
Brett BachmanWhen former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and ex-New York City Police Chief Bernie Kerik found themselves out thousands of dollars on hotel rooms and travel costs for their efforts to overturn Donald Trump's election loss, one person came to their rescue: Fox News host Jeanine Pirro. The longtime cable news staple arranged for the Trump campaign to reimburse Kerik and Giuliani, payments that may jeopardize the former president's claim to executive privilege, according to a new report in the Washington Post. more...
By Jacqueline Alemany, Josh Dawsey, Emma Brown and Tom HamburgerIt was a month after the 2020 presidential election, and Bernard Kerik was starting to panic. The former New York City police chief and his friend Rudolph W. Giuliani were shelling out thousands of dollars for hotel rooms and travel in their effort to find evidence of voting fraud and persuade state legislators to overturn Joe Biden’s victory. Yet President Donald Trump’s campaign had turned down Kerik’s request for a campaign credit card. The bills were piling up. “How do I know I’m gonna get my money back?” Kerik remembers thinking to himself at the time, according to a recent interview he did with The Washington Post. more...
By Katelyn Polantz, CNN Reporter, Crime and Justice(CNN) Specifics about former President Donald Trump's efforts to keep secret the support from his White House for overturning his loss of the 2020 election were revealed in late-night court filings that detail more than 700 pages of handwritten notes, draft documents and daily logs his top advisers kept related to January 6. The National Archives outlined for the first time in a sworn declaration what Trump wants to keep secret. And the US House has told a federal court that Trump has no right to keep confidential more than 700 documents from his presidency, citing a committee's need to reconstruct Trump's efforts to undermine the 2020 election and his actions on January 6. more...
The former president's effort to suppress more than 750 pages of records is far broader than previously known, a new court filing reveals.By KYLE CHENEYDonald Trump is seeking to prevent Jan. 6 investigators from accessing daily presidential diaries, drafts of election-related speeches, logs of his phone calls, handwritten notes and files of top aides, the National Archives revealed in a Saturday morning court filing.According to the National Archives, the former president has sought to block about 750 pages out of nearly 1,600 identified by officials as relevant to the Jan. 6 investigation. Among them are hundreds of pages from “multiple binders of the former press secretary [Kayleigh McEnany] which is made up almost entirely of talking points and statements related to the 2020 election,” according to the court filing. more...
The panel investigating the Capitol attack brought in a conservative activist linked to Steve Bannon's We Build The Wall effort.By BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN, HEATHER CAYGLE and KYLE CHENEYDustin Stockton, a conservative activist linked to Steve Bannon, is fielding questions Monday from congressional investigators scrutinizing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to two sources familiar with the interview. A spokesperson for the committee declined to comment. Stockton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Stockton previously drew national media attention for his connection to We Build The Wall, a crowdfunding effort that purported to raise money to construct a wall on the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Prosecutors in New York charged Steve Bannon and three others with defrauding donors in relation to the fund. In his final weeks in office, Trump pardoned Bannon for his involvement. more...
By Kaitlan Collins, CNN(CNN) At least five former Trump administration staffers have voluntarily spoken with the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, CNN has learned. Those discussions come as lawyers working for the committee have also reached out to a range of other Trump aides to inquire whether they would be interested in speaking with the committee voluntarily, without the threat of a subpoena.The engagement could provide insight for the committee that's seeking to learn more about the actions of former President Donald Trump and his supporters in the lead up to the riot. According to five former Trump aides, counsel for the committee has emailed or texted them directly to ask whether they are interested in coming in to talk to the congressional investigators, often looking for context on what happened inside the West Wing before the insurrection on January 6. more...
Travis GettysThe U.S. Department of Justice must investigate reports that members of Congress and their staffers had extensive contacts with two organizers of the "Stop the Steal" rallies that preceded the Jan. 6 insurrection. The organizers claim they met directly with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and staffers for Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Madison Cawthorne (R-NC) and Louie Gohmert (R-TX), and justice correspondent Elie Mystal wrote in The Nation that the Justice Department must determine what role any of them might have played in coordinating the deadly riot. more...
Two sources are communicating with House investigators and detailed a stunning series of allegations to Rolling Stone, including a promise of a “blanket pardon” from the Oval OfficeBy Hunter WalkerAs the House investigation into the Jan. 6 attack heats up, some of the planners of the pro-Trump rallies that took place in Washington, D.C., have begun communicating with congressional investigators and sharing new information about what happened when the former president’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Two of these people have spoken to Rolling Stone extensively in recent weeks and detailed explosive allegations that multiple members of Congress were intimately involved in planning both Trump’s efforts to overturn his election loss and the Jan. 6 events that turned violent.Rolling Stone separately confirmed a third person involved in the main Jan. 6 rally in D.C. has communicated with the committee. This is the first report that the committee is hearing major new allegations from potential cooperating witnesses. While there have been prior indications that members of Congress were involved, this is also the first account detailing their purported role and its scope. The two sources also claim they interacted with members of Trump’s team, including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who they describe as having had an opportunity to prevent the violence. more...
Kevin Johnson | USA TODAYAttorney General Merrick Garland made no commitment to prosecute former Trump adviser Steve Bannon on contempt of Congress charges, telling a House committee Thursday that the Justice Department would "apply the facts and the law." Garland's testimony came just before the full House voted to hold the former Trump strategist in contempt for refusing to comply with a subpoena issued by a select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. more...
Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN(CNN) The House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection is sending an aggressive message to Donald Trump's onetime political guru -- and to the former President himself. But by moving forward to hold Steve Bannon, the architect of Trump's nationalist populism, in criminal contempt for refusing to comply with a subpoena, the panel may be providing the mastermind of Trump's blow-it-all-up strategy yet another platform to try to tear down America's institutions.Action that will unfold next week against the ex-President's ideological soul mate is intended as a warning sign to those in Trump's wider orbit. And the chairman of the January 6 committee, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, warned on CNN that no one is "off limits" in terms of being compelled to testify -- including Trump himself. more...
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) was kicked off the Jan. 6 Committee, but that hasn’t stopped him from asking agencies for whatever information they provide to the panel.Roger Sollenberger, Sam BrodeyRep. Jim Banks (R-IN) was one of the two Republicans that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) booted from the Jan. 6 Committee in July, but Donald Trump’s staunch ally appears to be using his brief association with the panel to run a shadow investigation of his own.According to two sources familiar with the situation, Banks sent letters to many of the same federal agencies that the select committee’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), has contacted for information regarding the U.S. Capitol attack. more...
By Annie Grayer and Zachary Cohen, CNN(CNN) GOP Rep. Jim Banks lamented on the House floor that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prevented him from serving on the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol on Thursday. And yet, Banks sent a letter to at least one government agency falsely claiming that he is ranking member of the committee in his signature.Fellow Republican Liz Cheney, who serves as vice chair of the committee, called Banks out for his actions on the House floor as the House began debate on the criminal contempt referral of Steve Bannon, a Trump ally, for evading a subpoena. more...
Opinion: There are matters of national security, aspects of diplomacy and other issues that must be kept secret. This is nothing like that.EJ Montini | Arizona RepublicI’m wondering what part of “public” – as in public office – former President Donald Trump doesn’t understand. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has requested White House records related to the insurrection, but Trump’s lawyers are trying to prevent that from happening.They’ve filed a lawsuit against the chairman of the committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, as well as the national archivist, David Ferriero, and a bunch of others in an attempt to keep whatever happened inside the White House during the dark days leading up to Jan. 6 from being exposed. more...
Jon Ward·Chief National Correspondent | Yahoo NewsThe Jan. 6 House select committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to refer former Trump adviser Steve Bannon to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution in response to his refusal to cooperate with its investigation, paving the way for a full House vote on the matter, which is planned for Thursday.“Mr. Bannon stands alone in his complete defiance of our subpoena,” said committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. “He’s chosen the path toward criminal contempt by taking this position. more...
Another top Trump Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, also got subpoenaed on Wednesday by the panel probing the Capitol attack.By BETSY WOODRUFF SWANJeff Rosen, the acting attorney general during the final days of the Trump administration, sat for an interview with the Jan. 6 select committee on Wednesday, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The committee also subpoenaed another top Trump Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, for documents and testimony, with a deadline of Oct. 29. more...
By Zachary Cohen, Katelyn Polantz, Ryan Nobles and Annie Grayer, CNN(CNN) Trump ally Steve Bannon's game of chicken with the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Hill riot is on the cusp of entering a new and critical phase Thursday as he faces his last chance to reverse course and comply with the panel's subpoena before lawmakers likely move to seek criminal charges.Bannon's lawyer on Wednesday wrote a letter to the panel saying that his client will not provide testimony or documents until the committee reaches an agreement with former President Donald Trump over executive privilege or a court weighs in on the matter. "That is an issue between the committee and President Trump's counsel and Mr. Bannon is not required to respond at this time," attorney Robert Costello wrote.more...
Azmi HarounSteve Bannon's defense team sent another letter to the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol maintaining that he and other Trump allies would not produce documents for subpoenas, citing executive privilege, ABC News reported on Wednesday."Mr. Bannon's position is not in defiance of your Committee's subpoena; rather, Mr. Bannon noted that President Trump's counsel stated that they were invoking executive and other privileges and therefore directed us not to produce documents or give testimony that might reveal information President Trump's counsel seeks to legally protect," Bannon's attorney, Robert J. Costello, wrote. more...
Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN(CNN) The House's US Capitol insurrection probe is fast turning into a race against time, up against Republican efforts to delay an accounting on ex-President Donald Trump's coup attempt after losing the 2020 election even as he preemptively begins undermining the next one.It's hardly a shock that members of Trump's orbit are seeking to evade accountability and the rule of law. But it represents a problem for the committee nonetheless, as potential witnesses seek to drag out the process as long as possible. They do so in the knowledge that Republicans who have high hopes in the midterm elections would almost certainly shut down probes into January 6 if they reclaim the House. more...
Andrew Solender Forbes StaffBig NumberThe panel has become a partisan lightning rod, with House Republicans railing against the records requests and pressuring companies not to comply, since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to seat Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.), prompting House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to pull his other three picks. Several right-wing lawmakers have also balked at the prospect of being investigated by the panel.Crucial Quote“We’ll be sure that we’re telling the American people the story of what happened. And I think that people know bits and pieces of it . . . but I think laying out the full picture of what really happened, decisions that were made, and how it led to the attack on the Capitol is really going to be our focus,” Cheney said, calling the probe “the single most important investigation, I think, the Congress has ever done, because of the subject matter.” more...
By Albert Hunt, opinion contributorRep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), the two Republican congressional leaders who are into power and party, made a big political mistake last spring in opposing a bipartisan commission to investigate the mob assault on the Capitol.McConnell pressured enough Republican Senators so the measure couldn't get the 60 votes necessary for passage. McCarthy ludicrously claimed he was opposed to any inquiry that didn't investigate left wing activists who had nothing to do with the violent Jan. 6 attack intended to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden's presidential victory. more...
Heard on All Things ConsideredClaudia GrisalesSCOTT DETROW, HOST:Today marks the first of a series of deadlines for federal agencies and social media companies to turn over records to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who also sits on the select panel, tells NPR...ADAM SCHIFF: At the end of the day, we are determined to draft a comprehensive report over everything that led up to January 6 and what happened that day and the aftermath. more...
In targeting Clark, House investigators followed up on a Senate report that detailed his efforts to abuse the DoJ to support TrumpHugo Lowell in WashingtonThe House select committee investigating the Capitol attack on Wednesday issued a subpoena to top Trump justice department official Jeffrey Clark, escalating its inquiry into the former president’s efforts to reinstall himself in office and the 6 January insurrection.The new subpoena underscores the select committee’s far-reaching mandate in scrutinizing the origins of the Capitol attack, as it pursues an investigation into Donald Trump’s role in pressuring the justice department (DoJ) to do his bidding in the final weeks of his presidency. more...
By Jim Acosta and Paul LeBlanc, CNNWashington (CNN) Former Trump aide Dan Scavino has been served a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, a source familiar with the matter told CNN, bringing an end to the panel's struggle to physically locate him.A process server brought the subpoena to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Friday, the source said. While Scavino was home in New York at the time, he asked a staff member to accept the subpoena on his behalf. more...
MSNBCThe House Select Commission on the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued 11 additional subpoenas to people involved in organizing pro-Trump events before the attack. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) tells Lawrence O’Donnell the commission is making headway on “piecing together the complete story” to determine who was involved in the coordination, planning and funding of the attack. more...
What is Trump and his aides hidding?CBS MorningsA deadline for former President Trump's top allies to turn over documents to a House committee investigating the January 6th Capitol attack has come and gone, setting the stage for a potential legal battle. Nikole Killion has the latest. video...
Richard Donoghue’s tenure has drawn scrutiny from congressional investigators as they explore the former president’s attempts to pressure the department to interfere in the 2020 election.By BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN and NICHOLAS WURichard Donoghue — formerly the Justice Department’s second-in-command — appeared for a closed-door interview on Friday with the select panel investigating Jan. 6, according to two sources familiar with the matter.The interview, one of the panel’s first, comes as its investigators accelerate their probe of the events leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Donoghue’s tenure at the Justice Department in the final days of the Trump administration has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers as they explore the former president’s attempts to pressure the department to interfere in the 2020 election. more...
By Annie Grayer, Zachary Cohen, Ryan Nobles and Whitney Wild, CNN(CNN) The House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol issued a new round of subpoenas on Thursday, targeting two leaders of the "Stop the Steal" group, Ali Alexander and Nathan Martin, who are also affiliated with the planning of the Washington, DC, rally that was a precursor to the attack.In addition to seeking depositions from Alexander and Martin, the committee is requesting records from both individuals as well as Stop the Steal LLC, the organization affiliated with the event.The subpoenas give Alexander and Martin until October 21 for the deadline to turn over documents and October 28 and 29 as days for deposition respectively. The committee asks the custodian of records for the group to turn over documents by October 14. more...
By Ryan Nobles, Zachary Cohen and Annie Grayer, CNNWashington (CNN) More than a week after subpoenaing former Donald Trump aide Dan Scavino to cooperate with its investigation into the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, the House select committee investigating the attack has been unable to physically serve the subpoena to him, according to multiple sources familiar with the effort.The news comes just days before the committee's deadline for Scavino and three other close allies of the former President to comply with subpoenas requesting documents by October 7 and a deposition by October 15.Scavino, Trump's former White House deputy chief of staff, did not respond to CNN's request for comment. One source familiar with the situation joked that the committee should just tweet the subpoena to the former Trump aide since he's been actively trolling the panel there in recent days. more...
By Nikole KillionThe House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has begun hearing from witnesses and expects to continue doing so in the days ahead, a committee aide confirmed to CBS News. The aide would not disclose the identities of those who are being questioned by the committee.The transcribed witness interviews were first reported by Politico. The committee said on September 22 that it had subpoenaed close allies of former President Trump: former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, senior counselor Steve Bannon, communications director Dan Scavino and Pentagon chief of staff Kashyap Patel. Depositions are scheduled for October 14 and 15. more...
The National Archives has identified hundreds of pages of relevant documents, which will be sent to Biden and Trump lawyers.By MYAH WARDThe White House said Friday that President Joe Biden will not invoke executive privilege on his predecessor’s behalf to shield any Trump White House records from the House’s Jan. 6 committee investigating the Capitol insurrection. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the Trump administration hasn’t reached out to suggest protecting any of the records and that they don’t have regular communication with former President Donald Trump or his team. more...
By Luke BroadwaterWASHINGTON — The select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol subpoenaed four of President Donald J. Trump’s closest advisers on Thursday, ramping up its scrutiny of what the former president was doing before and during the deadly riot.The subpoenas, the first the panel has issued, seek information from Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff; Dan Scavino Jr., who was a deputy chief of staff; Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s former adviser; and Kash Patel, the former Pentagon chief of staff. more...
By John WagnerThe House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection issued its first sweeping requests Wednesday for records from federal agencies pertaining to the attack on the Capitol and President Donald Trump’s efforts to subvert the election.In letters demanding materials from the National Archives and seven other agencies, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), the committee chairman, signaled that an expansive investigation is underway, touching not only on what happened Jan. 6 but also on matters such as “the former President’s knowledge of the election results and what he communicated to the American people about the election.” more...
January 6 committee ramps up its work without a clear path to an outcome
By Ryan Nobles and Annie Grayer, CNN
(CNN) Members of the select committee tasked with examining the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol met behind closed doors with their staff for more than five hours on Monday night -- but as they seek thousands of documents and hours of potential interviews, the ultimate course of the ambitious investigation is still not clear.It has been four months since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced plans to form the panel to investigate the deadly riot, and the committee is on the verge of issuing its first subpoenas as it attempts to corral all the information it has requested. more...
'The physical violence we experienced was horrific and devastating': Officers recount harrowing events of Capitol insurrection
By Clare Foran, Jeremy Herb, Lauren Fox and Annie Grayer, CNN
(CNN) The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol kicked off its first high-profile hearing Tuesday with harrowing testimony from officers who experienced firsthand the violent events of that day at the hands of a pro-Trump mob.
The vivid testimony puts witness accounts on the record and a national spotlight on the insurrection, once again forcing a reckoning over the tragic events of January 6 for lawmakers on Capitol Hill as well as the American public. Regardless of the testimony's raw power, entrenched partisan battle lines in the months following the attack and during the shaping of the select committee have ensured that few minds are likely to be changed. Democrats have denounced the Capitol riot as an attack on democracy, while Republicans have almost uniformly downplayed and dismissed the insurrection's implications, especially former President Donald Trump's incitement of it. more...
By Xander LandenA Republican strategist criticized House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for threatening telecommunications companies that comply with records requests from the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack, arguing that the GOP leader is "trying to bury" the facts."I think the threats are basically grandstanding, especially for an audience of one, meaning the former president. We all know that Kevin McCarthy basically does what the former president wants him to do—in this case, it's go after Big Tech like Donald Trump did when he was president," the strategist, Susan Del Percio, said on MSNBC Sunday. "This is all about operating from fear," she said later in the interview. more...
Congressional committees have routinely subpoenaed data from private companies, but the House minority leader says a future GOP majority “will not forget.”By MYAH WARDMinority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday threatened to use a future GOP majority to punish companies that comply with the House’s Jan. 6 investigators, warning that “a Republican majority will not forget.”McCarthy called out Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for what he called “attempts to strong-arm private companies to turn over individuals’ private data.” He asserted that such a forfeiture of information would “put every American with a phone or computer in the crosshairs of a surveillance state run by Democrat politicians.” more...
Kevin Breuninger, Christina WilkieThe House select committee investigating the deadly invasion of the Capitol on Jan. 6 said Friday it is demanding a trove of records from 15 social media companies, including Facebook, Twitter, Google and a slew of pro-Trump platforms.The requests for records stretching back to the spring of 2020 are related to “the spread of misinformation, efforts to overturn the 2020 election or prevent the certification of the results, domestic violent extremism, and foreign influence in the 2020 election,” the committee said in a press release. more...
With a deal struck in the House for a bipartisan panel, GOP efforts to downplay the Trump-incited attack on the Capitol show the need for an independent investigation—and represent the biggest impediment to carrying one out.By Eric LutzMonths after Donald Trump incited a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, lawmakers appear poised to move forward with a commission to investigate the incident. Democrat Bennie Thompson, chair of the Homeland Security Committee in the House, announced on Friday that he and John Katko, the panel’s top Republican, had reached a “bipartisan agreement” for a January 6 Commission, similar to the one established twenty years ago to investigate the September 11 terrorist attacks. Democrats hailed the agreement, which could make it to the House floor next week, as a major step toward accountability for the insurrection and toward preventing similar violence in the future. “Inaction—or just moving on—is simply not an option,” Thompson said in a statement, nodding at the insistence by a number of high profile Republicans that the incident is old news. “The creation of this commission is our way of taking responsibility for protecting the U.S. Capitol.” more...
By Philip ElliottIt’s been quite a week already for Rep. John Katko. On Monday, he joined the Leadership team of his fellow House Republicans, replacing his colleague Elise Stefanik who got a major promotion. Less than 24 hours later, Katko found himself thrown under the bus by his new boss, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, for delivering a bipartisan deal to look into the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. And today, Katko’s framework finds itself heading toward rejection by the same people who told him to do it. more...
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joined the chorus of Republican leadership formally urging members to vote against the measure.By Adam Edelman, Rebecca Shabad and Dartunorro ClarkWASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday voted 252-175 to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but the bill faces a different landscape in the Senate, where it needs at least 10 Republicans and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell opposes it.Republican opposition coalesced against the bipartisan legislation hours before the House vote, which passed largely along party lines. But 35 GOP House members voted in favor of the bill, showing that divisions remain within the party on issues related to former President Donald Trump. more...
Commentary (Los Angeles Times)by Brian Michael JenkinsThe history of politically charged violence in and against the United States can be read in the reports of its national commissions. The Warren Commission investigated the Kennedy assassination. The Kerner Commission looked at the causes of urban uprisings in the 1960s. Terrorist attacks from the 1983 Beirut bombings to 9/11 prompted the creation of commissions aimed at coming to grips with the growing threat.The takeover of the U.S. Capitol on January 6 demands such an inquiry. Last week, a bill to establish a national commission to investigate the attack was introduced in the House.A single determined shooter could have turned the attack on the Capitol into a massacre. Hostages could have been taken. Bombs could have been planted. Fires set. A branch of the federal government has not been so seriously threatened since 9/11. Already inspectors general of four federal agencies have begun investigations of security and intelligence. more...
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