The Jan. 6 House select committee withdrew its subpoena of former President Donald Trump, which prompted a victory lap from his attorney and the former commander-in-chief himself.
The panel’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), said in a letter to Trump’s attorneys that the committee is no longer pursuing the subpoena that was issued in October for the former president’s testimony and documents regarding the Jan. 6, 2021 incident at the Capitol.
“In light of the imminent end of our investigation, the Select Committee can no longer pursue the specific information covered by the subpoena,” Thompson wrote in the Dec. 28 letter, which came after the committee concluded its work last week and released its final report.
“Therefore, through this letter, I hereby formally withdraw the subpoena issued to former President Trump, and notify you that he is no longer obligated to comply or produce records in response to said subpoena,” Thompson added.
‘Waved the White Flag’
Harmeet Dhillon, an attorney Trump hired after being subpoenaed, celebrated the panel’s decision to put the subpoena away.
“After my firm filed suit on separation of powers grounds to block January 6 House Select Committee’s illegitimate subpoena to President Trump over his activities while president—the committee waved the white flag & withdrew subpoena,” Dhillon said in a message on social media early Thursday.
“We were confident of victory,” she added, “in court, given precedent & refusal of prior presidents to testify in Congress. J6 committee wasted millions for a purely political witch-hunt, total abuse of process & power serving no legitimate legislative purpose.”
‘I Did Nothing Wrong’
Trump, too, addressed the matter of the cancellation in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform.
“Was just advised that the Unselect Committee of political Thugs has withdrawn the Subpoena of me concerning the January 6th Protest of the CROOKED 2020 Presidential Election,” Trump wrote.
“They probably did so because they knew I did nothing wrong, or they were about to lose in Court. Perhaps the FBI’s involvement in RIGGING the Election played into their decision. In any event, the Subpoena is DEAD!” he added.
By Tom Ozimek
