Trump will be subpoenaed by the January 6 Select Committee after the panel took a remarkable vote on whether or not to subpoena the former President in what could be its last public hearing.
On Thursday (October 13), the vote — which was televised — that had been in the works for months as the committee weighed whether it should subpoena former President Donald Trump, who has been an incessant critic of the panel.
Yet, Thursday’s vote was unanimous, with all nine lawmakers on the panel voting to subpoena Trump.
Following the remarkable vote, Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) explained the decision in a brief statement, saying, “He is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on Jan. 6. So we want to hear from him. The committee needs to do everything in our power to tell the most complete story possible and provide recommendations to help ensure that nothing like Jan. 6 ever happens again.”
Thompson added, “We need to be fair and thorough in getting the full context for the evidence we’ve obtained,” while acknowledging, “a subpoena to a former president is a serious and extraordinary action. That’s why we want to take this in full view of the American people.”
Within the hour after the vote, Trump took to Truth Social to lambast the Committee for not subpoenaing him sooner, writing: “Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting? Because the Committee is a total ‘BUST’ that has only served to further divide our Country which, by the way, is doing very badly – A laughing stock all over the World?”
The likelihood that Trump will testify before the Committee is slim, as his defiance of the panel’s work and mission has been on display throughout its lifespan.
Instead, Trump is expected to challenge the subpoena in court.
