January 6th Committee Votes to Subpoena Former President Trump

On October 13, 2022, the House of Representatives Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (the “Select Committee”) held its ninth public hearing. The Select Committee is currently investigating the causes of the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, which sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Former President Donald Trump is at the center of the Select Committee’s investigation and at the conclusion of the hearing Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney said, “We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion.”[1] The Vice Chairwoman then brought forth a resolution for the Select Committee to issue a subpoena for “relevant documents and testimony under oath” to former President Trump.[2] The Select Committee agreed to the resolution in a unanimous vote.

One day later, former President Trump issued a fourteen-page statement in response to the Select Committee’s vote on a subpoena. In his statement, former President Trump reiterated his claims of election fraud and characterized the Select Committee’s work as a “Witch Hunt of the highest level.”[3] Although former President Trump did not raise any substantive legal issues in his statement, he is certainly likely to contest the Select Committee’s subpoena in court. If he does, the Select Committee will have an uphill legal battle. Under the test in Mazars, former President Trump could raise separation of powers issues.[4] Former President Trump could also assert executive privilege, but if President Joseph Biden gets involved in the Select Committee’s work like he did last year, questions surrounding the limits of executive privilege will once more be raised.[5] The timing of the subpoena is critical as the Select Committee could be dissolved in the coming months when a new Congress is sworn in.