The select House of Representatives panel that is probing the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach has subpoenaed organizers of rallies that took place before the riot.
The committee wants Katrina Pierson, a former Trump campaign official; Amy Kremer, founder and chair of Women for America First; and Kremer’s daughter Kylie, executive director of Women for America First, to answer questions under oath.
Eight others listed or believed to be involved with the planning of the rallies, which took place in late 2020 and on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, were also subpoenaed. They include Tim Unes of Event Strategies Inc., who was listed on permit paperwork for the Jan. 6 rally as “state manager”; Caroline Wren, listed on the paperwork as “VIP adviser”; and Maggie Mulvaney, listed as “VIP lead.”
In letters to the individuals, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the panel, said the committee’s investigation has shown that they participated in the planning of the events in question.
The primary rally featured then-President Donald Trump. During his speech, he promoted election fraud allegations and encouraged people to go to the Capitol, though he also urged them to remain peaceful.
Thompson asked the 11 to produce records and sit for testimony before the panel, which is officially named the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
“The Select Committee is investigating the facts, circumstances, and causes of the January 6th attack and issues relating to the peaceful transfer of power, in order to identify and evaluate lessons learned and to recommend to the House and its relevant committees corrective laws, policies, procedures rules, or regulations. The inquiry includes examination of how various individuals and entities coordinated their activities leading up to the events of January 6, 2021,” Thompson wrote in the letters.
The 11 individuals either did not respond to requests for comment or could not be reached.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a panel member, told reporters Monday that everybody who receives a subpoena has “a legal duty to comply.”
The panel says its goal is to identify what can be learned from the Capitol breach, which interrupted a joint session of Congress, and recommend laws that could correct issues that are found.
But the committee has been sharply criticized by Republicans, particularly after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) picks for the panel were rejected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Two Republicans sit on the committee, Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.). Both are harsh Trump critics who voted to impeach him in January. Trump was later acquitted after he left office.
