Trump Criticizes Jan. 6 Committee Over Vote to Subpoena Him, Set to Respond Friday

A video is shown of former U.S. President Donald Trump during a hearing by the House January 6 committee in Washington on Oct. 13, 2022. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump on Oct. 13 denounced the Jan. 6 committee, after the Democrat-dominated panel voted ​unanimously to subpoena him.

“Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago? Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting?” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.

“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?”

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the ranking member of the committee, submitted a resolution to subpoena Trump, which was then passed in a 9–0 vote. The panel has been holding hearings to investigate the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said the committee recognized how “serious and extraordinary” the step was, and claimed that Trump’s testimony would make sure “nothing like January 6th ever happens again.”

“He is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on Jan. 6. So we want to hear from him,” Thompson said, referring to Trump. “He is required to answer for his actions.”

The subpoena is unlikely to succeed since it will likely prompt legal challenges from Trump’s attorneys. Additionally, the subpoena will expire at the end of the current Congress, which is Jan. 3, 2023.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the Jan. 6 committee, delivers remarks alongside Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) during a hearing in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, on Oct. 13, 2022. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

‘A Giant Scam’ 

In a separate Truth Social post, Trump said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) should have called out the “troops” before Jan. 6, 2021, a move the former president said he “strongly recommended that she do.”

“It was her responsibility, but she ‘didn’t like the look,’” Trump continued. “Crazy Nancy failed the American People!”

Pelosi is facing questions about claims that she rejected a preemptive National Guard presence ahead of the Trump rally on Jan. 6, 2021. According to former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, he requested that the National Guard be brought in to ensure that the Jan. 6 rally went smoothly. However, Sund claims that Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving, overseen by Pelosi, rejected the request, citing concerns over the “optics” of deploying Guard personnel in the city.

Sund’s requests were eventually denied or postponed six times, according to an interview with The Washington Post.

Pelosi’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Drew Hammill, told Newsweek in a statement that Trump’s latest claims “have no basis in fact.”

Trump also said on Truth Social that the committee “knowingly failed to examine the massive voter fraud which took place during the 2020 Presidential Election—The reason for what took place on January 6th.”

“The Unselect Committee is a giant Scam, presided over by a group of Radical Left losers, and two failed Republicans, the likes of which our Country has rarely seen before,” Trump added. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

In a final post just before midnight, Trump said he will be “putting out my response to the Unselect Committee of political Hacks & Thugs” at 8 a.m. on Oct. 14.

Also on Thursday, Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich took to Twitter to criticize the committee members of “partisan theatrics,” and said “Pres Trump will not be intimidate[d] by their meritless rhetoric or un-American actions.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) attends a press briefing following a House Republican conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 29, 2021. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Response

Following the committee’s unanimous vote, several Republican lawmakers took to Twitter to criticize the panel, including House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.).

“Today’s subpoena of President Donald J. Trump less than one month from the midterm elections is a desperate political ploy by Democrats and their mainstream media stenographer allies,” Stefanik said in a statement.

“The American people are smart and the Democrats’ abuse of power will only energize the American people to Fire Nancy Pelosi once and for all and deliver a red tsunami that will elect a historic Republican Majority to hold Joe Biden accountable.”

House Republicans are expected to liquidate the Jan. 6 committee and open up other investigations, targeting primarily President Joe Biden, his administration, and his son Hunter Biden, should they retake the lower chamber after the midterm elections.

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee said the Democrats have gotten their priorities wrong.

“The country is experiencing record crime and record inflation,” the committee’s lawmakers wrote. “Sadly, Democrats can’t get over their weird OBSESSION of President Trump to do anything about it.”

The U.S. annual inflation surged 8.2 percent in September, higher than the market expectation of 8.1 percent. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy sectors, rose to a 6.6 percent annual rate, the highest level since 1982.

Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) said the subpoena “is nothing more than a political witch hunt.”

“Subpoenaing President Trump is a DISGRACE!” Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) wrote. “They want to DESTROY Trump and EVERY one of his supporters! They’ll stop at NOTHING. We MUST BEAT THEM in November!!”

However, several Democrat lawmakers welcomed the subpoena. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) called the committee’s decision “a victory for the American people, and a victory for the rule of law.”

“He must be held accountable,” Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) wrote, referring to Trump. “And if he refuses to comply, he must be held in Contempt of Congress.”

Kelly Loeffler, a former Republican senator from Georgia, said the timing of the subpoena proved significant.

“We are 26 days out to Election Day, and suddenly they’re trying to subpoena President Trump,” Loeffler wrote on Twitter. “Proof of what we’ve been saying all along: the sham J6 Committee is a taxpayer-funded campaign tool for the Democrats.”