Jan. 6 panel to assess ‘next steps’ after Trump resists subpoena

Chairmen of the House committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot said the panel was considering “next steps” after former President Donald Trump failed to appear for testimony Monday.

Committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and vice chair Liz Cheney (D-WY) accused Trump, 76, of “going into hiding” after he filed a lawsuit against the panel last week.

“Although the former president initially indicated that he would testify before the committee, he has since filed a lawsuit asking the courts to shield him from testifying,” the committee chairs wrote in a press release. “His attorneys have made no attempt to negotiate an appearance of any kind, and his lawsuit advances many of the same arguments that courts have repeatedly dismissed over the past year.”

The House panel issued a subpoena last month forcing Trump to appear before the investigative agency on Monday.

“The truth is that Donald Trump, like several of his closest allies, is hiding from the Special Committee investigation and refusing to do what more than a thousand other witnesses have done,” the two lawmakers added.

Thompson and Cheney did not say whether they would pursue contempt charges against Trump for resisting the subpoena, as they did with former White House adviser Steve Bannon.

“In the coming days, the committee will evaluate the next steps in the litigation and in relation to the former President’s default,” Thompson and Cheney wrote.

Trump’s lawsuit against the House Committee alleges that “no president or former president has ever been compelled” to provide testimony or documents in response to subpoenas from Congress in the past.

“Longstanding precedent and practice maintains that the separation of powers prohibits Congress from compelling a president to testify before him,” Trump attorney David A. Warrington said in a statement Friday announcing the lawsuit.

Earlier this month, the Jan. 6 House panel extended the deadline for the former president to produce documents related to the Capitol riot, noting that Trump and his legal team have been in contact with the panel since it received a subpoena for documents and the former had issued a presidential statement in October.

However, Trump’s deadline for testimony has not been extended at this time.

The panel of seven Democrats and two anti-Trump Republicans issued a subpoena on Oct. 21, ordering Trump to produce all “relevant documentation” related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and on “one or more days of the Deposition” to attend testimony.”