In historic move, House Jan. 6 committee votes to subpoena Trump

Americans deserve to hear from him, Rep. Liz Cheney said.

Last Updated: October 13, 2022, 5:33 PM EDT

The House Jan. 6 committee on Thursday, after a months-long hiatus, held its ninth public hearing since June, and possibly its last in its investigation into the U.S. Capitol attack.

The panel focused on the role of former President Donald Trump, alleging he was front and center of a plot to overturn the 2020 election and in a historic development, voted unanimously to subpoena Trump to testify.

Oct 13, 2022, 3:39 PM EDT

Cheney cites need for Trump subpoena

Cheney said a subpoena for Trump is necessary since several witnesses pleaded their Fifth Amendment right when pressed about their conversations with the former president surrounding the 2020 election and the insurrection.

"Mr. Chairman, our committee now has sufficient information to answer many of the critical questions posed by Congress at the outset. We have sufficient information to consider criminal referrals for multiple individuals and to recommend a range of legislative proposals to guard against another January 6. But a key task remains. We must seek the testimony, under oath, of January 6's central plater," she said.

"More than 30 witnesses in our investigation have invoked their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination, and several of those did so specifically in response to questions about their dealings with Donald Trump directly."

Cheney conceded that the Justice Department could reveal more information but indicated that time is of the essence.

"Mr. Chairman, at some point, the Department of Justice may well unearth the fact that these and other witnesses are concealing. But our duty today is to our country and our children and our Constitution. We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion, and every American is entitled to those answers so we can act now to protect our republic," she said.

Oct 13, 2022, 3:31 PM EDT

Thompson on subpoenaing Trump: 'We want to hear from him'

Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the committee needs to hear from the person they say is at the center of the story of what happened on Jan. 6: Trump.

“We want to hear from him,” Thompson said. “The committee needs to do everything in our power to tell the most complete story possible and provide recommendations to help ensure nothing like Jan. 6 ever happens again.”

Thompson said speaking with Trump goes beyond the committee’s “fact-finding” and is a question about accountability to the American people.

“He is required to answer for his actions,” he said.

A photo of former President Donald Trump is shown during a hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, Oct. 13, 2022.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Thompson said the committee recognizes subpoenaing a former president is an extraordinary step, which is why the panel will "take this step in full view of the American people."

Oct 13, 2022, 3:30 PM EDT

Secret Service worried for Pence after Trump tweet

The committee presented evidence the Secret Service voiced worry for Pence after Trump bashed him in a tweet for not blocking certification of the Electoral College results.

"POTUS just tweeted about Pence, probably not going to be good for Pence," one agent said in a chat with a colleague released by the committee Thursday.

"POTUS said he lacked courage. Over 24K likes in under 2mins," the colleague responded.

Former Twitter employee Anika Collier Navaroli, in testimony featured Thursday, said that rioters "were literally calling for [Pence's] execution," partially "in response to this tweet."

Navaroli was the most predominant Twitter employee to publicly testify about Jan. 6.
Navaroli was the most predominant Twitter employee to publicly testify about Jan. 6.

Oct 13, 2022, 3:27 PM EDT

As the insurrection is ongoing, Pelosi speaks to Pence in new footage

The committee played new footage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to former Vice President Mike Pence as Trump supporters were in the middle of storming the Capitol. The contents of that footage is below, as the two discussed how they would ultimately certify the 2020 election results.

At 4:22 p.m. Pelosi was videotaped saying:

"We're trying to figure out how we can get this job done today. We talked to Mitch [McConnell] about it earlier. He's not in the room right now but he was with us earlier and said, "Yeah, we want to expedite this." And hopefully they could confine it to just one complaint, Arizona. And then we could vote and that would be you know, then just move forward with the rest of the states.

New footage shows congressional leaders and former Vice President Mike Pence making calls to stop the attack on the Capitol while at a secure location.
New footage shows congressional leaders and former Vice President Mike Pence making calls to stop the attack on the Capitol while at a secure location.

"The overriding wish is to do it at the Capitol," said Pelosi, as the committee displayed a photo of Pence presumably on the phone with her while watching news footage on a separate cellphone.

"What we are being told very directly is it's gonna take days for the Capitol to be OK again. We've gotten a very bad report about the condition of the House floor. Defecation and all that kind of thing as well. I don't think that that's hard to clean up. But I do think it is more from a security standpoint of making sure everybody is out of the building and how long will that take?"

At 4:30 p.m. Pelosi said:

"I just got off the phone with the Vice President and I got off with the Vice President-elect," Pelosi said after her call with Pence and supposedly Kamala Harris.

"So I'll tell you what she said, yeah. But what we left the conversation with cause he said, he had the impression from Mitch [McConnell] that Mitch wants to get everybody back to do it there," Pelosi said.

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