Representative Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, during a hearing of the Special Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., Thursday, July 21, 2022.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The special House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol subpoenaed former President Donald Trump on Friday, and Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Trump would not be able to turn his testimony into “ circus”.
“The commission takes this matter very seriously,” she said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “It may take a few days and it will be done with the level of rigor, discipline and seriousness it deserves.”
The committee voted unanimously for the subpoena and is requesting relevant records and Trump’s testimony under oath next month.
“We recognize that subpoenaing a former president is a significant and historic action,” committee leaders wrote in a letter to Trump on Friday. Committee Chairman Rep. Benny Thompson, Md., and Cheney cited what they called Trump’s central role in a deliberate, “multipronged effort” to reverse his loss in the 2020 presidential election.
The subpoena said Trump would be ousted on Nov. 14, after the midterm elections. It is unclear whether he will comply.
Former White House aide Stephen Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison earlier Friday for refusing to comply with subpoenas from the same committee. He remains free pending appeal.
Cheney said the committee has clarified what Trump’s duties are and that he plans to proceed accordingly.
“This won’t be his first debate against Joe Biden and the circus and food fight that this has become,” she said. “It’s too serious a set of problems.”
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