Jan. 6 committee withdraws Trump subpoena after failing to beat the clock

The subpoena issued to Trump by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol has officially been withdrawn after failing to beat the clock on the committee’s allotted time frame. 

In a letter from committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson issued to Trump’s attorney he states, “In light of the imminent end of our investigation, the select committee can no longer pursue the specific information covered by the subpoena. 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.” 

The committee’s vote in favor of serving Trump with the subpoena came in mid-October 2022 after Rep. Liz Cheney named the former president as a “central player” in the J6 insurrection and Rep. Thompson voiced his opinion that there was necessary and relevant obligation to hear from Trump himself regarding his actions and influence surrounding the events of Jan. 6. 

As CBS highlights in their coverage of the committee’s withdrawal of the subpoena, Trump “gave no indication he would comply” to it in the first place.

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Last week the J6 committee released the last of their reports and when January brings a turnaround in Congress, their authority to delve any deeper will come to an end, leaving Trump for the DOJ to contend with next. 

Had Trump appeared before the committee, he would have been called upon to produce emails, text messages and phone records — specifically those relating to his claims that the 2020 election had been “stolen” from him.

Reacting to news of the withdrawal, Trump posted a message to Truth Social on Wednesday saying “Was just advised that the Unselect Committee of political Thugs has withdrawn the Subpoena of me concerning the January 6th Protest of the CROOKED 2020 Presidential Election. 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!”