“At the end of the last Committee hearing of January 6 [2021, date de l’assaut du Capitole] before the midterm elections, its members unanimously took the historic decision to subpoena former President Donald Trump”to collect his testimony on “his failed plot to retain power after losing the 2020 election”reports The Daily Beast.
“This is the first time a congressional panel has directly targeted a former president, underscoring how high the stakes are in the ongoing investigation into the January 6 insurgency.”adds the site.
“He is THE person at the center of who happened on January 6th. So we want to hear it”explained the chairman of the panel, Democrat Bennie Thompson, quoted by The Hill. “We are aware that summoning a former president to appear is a serious and extraordinary decision. That’s why we wanted to take it out in the open, in front of the American people.”he admitted.
New Evidence
This ninth and final hearing of the committee before the submission of its report – scheduled, in theory, before the end of the year – “served as a summary of previous ones”while providing “some new evidence”according The country. And all the elements presented, all the testimonies heard “point in the same direction: Trump knew he had lost, refused to recognize it, sought to manipulate the result, and this unprecedented attitude caused the Capitol to be stormed”sums up the Madrid daily.
The former president, who has never hidden his aversion to the commission and its work, was quick to react on his social network Truth Social. Why the panel “Didn’t he ask me to testify months ago? Why did they wait until the very end, until the last moments of their last meeting? ”he wrote. “Because the commission is a total FIASCO that has only served to further divide our country”.
The Daily Telegraph emphasizes that if Donald Trump refuses to comply with the subpoena, “he could be sued for contempt” to Congress, a misdemeanor punishable by one year in prison. But such prosecutions, or even testimony from the president himself, remain highly unlikely.
Fifth Amendment
“The chances of seeing him testify are almost nil”estimated in the Wall Street Journal Randall Eliason, former Washington district attorney. “And even if Mr. Trump shows up, he will likely invoke the Fifth Amendment not to answer questions”.
“The question will not even arise if the Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives in November, after the midterm elections”because they can “cancel subpoena”specifies the economic daily.
It could therefore be left to the Commission only “two and a half months before he disappears, the time the Republicans take over, and there is little change that the panel can force Trump to comply with their subpoena before this deadline”adds the Washington Post.