Trump circumvents testimony in a 14-page response Jan. 6

(The Hill) – Former President Donald Trump on Friday skirted the question of whether he would testify under subpoena and doubled down on whether he would testify under subpoena in a 14-page response to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots in the Capitol instead, his refuted claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Trump sent a letter to committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) a day after the panel unanimously voted to subpoena him to testify about his role in the Jan. 6 events as supporters of the former president stormed the Capitol. . Certification of the 2020 election results.

“This memo was written to express our anger, disappointment and grievance that with all of the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been spent on what many consider to be a charade and a witch hunt, and despite strong and forceful pleas, you have not even spent “Have a brief moment to investigate the massive voter fraud that took place during the 2020 presidential election and have targeted only those who, as concerned American citizens, have protested the fraud itself,” Trump wrote in the letter, dated Oct. 13 is.

The document includes numerous photos meant to demonstrate the crowd at his Jan. 6 rally, as well as a state breakdown that renews unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in five states Trump lost to President Joe Biden.

There was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election — something Trump’s own campaign revealed. Courts ruled against Trump on 62 separate occasions when he filed lawsuits to challenge the election over fraud allegations.

Trump’s response, of course, is not a formal fulfillment of the subpoena, which has yet to be sent out after the committee voted unanimously to compel Trump to testify.

Such documents must be served and, in the case of previous subpoenas by the Committee dated Jan. 6, contain a list of the issues the Panel wishes to discuss in a formal deposition and a breakdown of the documents and other evidence that must be turned over.

In the public vote, panel lawmakers emphasized the importance of hearing directly from Trump.

“We have an obligation to seek answers directly from the man who started all of this,” said Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the committee’s vice chair, just before the vote. “And every American is entitled to those answers.”