‘About Damn Time’: Jan. 6 Panel Unanimously Votes to Subpoena Ex-President Donald Trump

This post has been updated.

The U.S. House panel probing the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol unanimously voted Thursday to subpoena former President Donald Trump "to provide evidence as part of the committee's investigation."

The panel's hearing—expected to be the last before next month's midterm elections—largely focused on Trump's role in the attack. In what critics now call his "Big Lie," the former president repeatedly claimed, including in a speech the day of the insurrection, that Democrats stole the 2020 election.

Plans for the subpoena vote—which were initially reported by NBC News and Politico—and the result were welcomed by defenders of U.S. democracy.

"A subpoena of a former president shouldn't be taken lightly. Neither should staging an attempted coup to change the outcome of an election," said University of California, Berkeley professor and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich.

"Donald Trump remains a clear and present danger to our democracy," Common Cause president Karen Hobert Flynn declared after the vote. "The January 6th select committee is right to subpoena the former president. But the committee has shown clearly that the then-president violated his oath of office and committed crimes for which he must be held accountable."

"Trump and his associates waged a weekslong campaign, that appears to have amounted to a criminal conspiracy, to overturn the will of the people and ignore the results of the 2020 election so that he could remain in power," she continued. "When his plot failed, and fully aware that he had lost a free and fair election, Trump knowingly and willfully incited an armed mob of insurrectionists to the Capitol."

Hobert Flynn pointed out that "for hours—with the lives of his vice president, members of Congress, staff, and law enforcement in danger—he refused to call off the mob. Trump and those who participated in this plot must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."

She stressed that "Trump must comply with the subpoena from the January 6th select committee because no one, including a former president, is above the law."

Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of Public Citizen and co-chair of the Not Above the Law Coalition, said in a statement that Thursday's hearing "shows more clearly than ever that Trump was the mastermind of the insurrection and the multitudinous efforts to sabotage our democracy."

"The committee's subpoena is an important step to hold Trump accountable for the thwarted coup that he personally led," she added. "He must comply.”

The Nation's Elie Mystal was among those who suggested that Trump's compliance is unlikely:

While not directly addressing the subpoena, just after the vote Trump took aim at the select committee and Cassidy Hutchinson—an ex-aide to his former chief of staff who testified to the panel in June—on his Truth Social platform.

Earlier Thursday, Gilbert had highlighted that "thousands of pieces of evidence and testimony from Trump's own staffers and foot soldiers have clearly laid out, fact by fact, what only those closest to him knew to be true: Trump engaged in a criminal conspiracy, knowingly made false claims—including claiming victory in the election—and incited a violent attack on the Capitol in order to overturn the 2020 election."

"Perhaps the most important fact to focus on now is that without accountability for these crimes, these attacks on our country will continue," she warned, noting that "MAGA politicians in state houses across the country are attempting to pass laws that will make future elections easier to steal, election officials are entering the November elections under the specter of harassment, and more and more proponents of the 'Big Lie' are on the ballot nationwide."

After praising the panel for its "admirable job laying out the facts of the unconstitutional threat posed by Trump and his allies," Gilbert stressed that "it's time for action. That's why people are joining more than 75 events across the country to amplify the hearing revelations, and fight ongoing threats to our freedoms and our vote. America can't afford more election interference, lies, and sabotage. It's time to take a stand."

After the panel's vote, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) tweeted that "the evidence of criminal conduct by Trump is so strong that the only option left is for the Department of Justice to indict him."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Jessica Corbett.

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