The House Jan. 6 committee on Friday extended their deadline for former President Donald Trump to hand over documents the panel subpoenaed.
“We have received correspondence from the former President and his counsel regarding the committee’s subpoena,” the panel said on Twitter, hours after their original deadline passed.
“We have informed Trump’s counsel that he must begin producing records no later than next week and he remains under subpoena for testimony starting on November 14th.”
The Democrat-led panel issued a subpoena on Oct. 21 to Trump, a Republican, for testimony and to provide records relevant to its probe into “the facts, circumstances, and causes” of the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when protesters went to the U.S. Capitol to express their views about the results of the 2020 general election, which many disputed.
The events of Jan. 6, 2021, are often referred to as an “insurrection” by legacy media outlets, Democrats, and a small number of Republicans.
Most of the crowd were supporters of Trump. Questions have been raised about whether some of the protesters were not genuine Trump supporters, with video footage and witness accounts disputing the prevailing media narrative about the violence on the day.
The panel seeks Trump’s communications records with respect to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and any witnesses testifying to the House committee’s investigation. They contend that Trump played a key role in what they characterize as efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and disrupt the transfer of power.
Subpoena
The House Jan. 6 committee wrote in a letter to Trump (pdf) that it has “assembled overwhelming evidence, including from dozens of your former appointees and staff,” that the former president “oversaw a multi-part effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.”Trump has denied such allegations, saying that the 2020 election was rigged against him.
The panel said it “did not take this action lightly” and that it recognized “that a subpoena to a former President is a significant and historic action.”
During its final public hearing in October, the panel unanimously voted to subpoena the former president.
The committee’s mandate is due to dissolve at the end of the year, but if the GOP retakes the House of Representatives, as many election analysts predict, then Trump’s legal challenge would outlast the committee’s mandate.
