Kinzinger: Trump ‘Required by Law’ to Testify About January 6

October 18, 2022 Topic: January 6 Region: United States Blog Brand: Politics Tags: January 6Donald TrumpCapitol RiotLiz Cheney2020 Election

Kinzinger: Trump ‘Required by Law’ to Testify About January 6

Last Thursday, the January 6 committee’s resolution to subpoena Trump passed with the support of all of its members.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) on Sunday told ABC News’ This Week that former President Donald Trump will be “required by law” to testify before the House January 6 committee.

“We made a decision in front of the American people, not behind closed doors, to begin the process of subpoenaing the former president. He's required by law to come in, and he can ramble and push back all he wants. That's the requirement for a congressional subpoena to come in,” said Kinzinger, a member of the committee investigating last year’s Capitol attack.

“He's made it clear he has nothing to hide, [that's] what he said. So he should come in on the day we asked him to come in. If he pushes off beyond that, we'll figure out what to do next,” he continued.

Kinzinger, however, refused to directly answer questions on whether Trump should be held in criminal contempt if he does not comply with the subpoena.

“That's a bridge we cross if we have to get there,” he said. “We're at a bit of a time limit here. And as we're wrapping up the investigation, we're also pursuing new leads and facts.”

Last Thursday, the committee’s resolution to subpoena Trump passed with the support of all of its members. The resolution was introduced by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), the panel’s vice chair, who has long called the former president the Capitol attack’s “central player.”

Meanwhile, per Fox News, Trump sent a fourteen-page letter to the committee on Friday but declined to divulge whether he’d comply with the panel’s subpoena.

“The Unselect Committee has willfully ignored the fact that days before January 6, 2021, I recommended and authorized thousands of troops to be deployed to ensure that there was peace, safety, and security at the Capitol and throughout Washington, D.C. on January 6th because I knew, just based on instinct and what I was hearing, that the crowd coming to listen to my speech, and various others, would be a very big one, far bigger than anyone thought possible,” Trump claimed.

“The Department of Defense timeline shows that National Guard troops could have easily been present at the Capitol before January 6th and that I fully authorized this recommendation and request. Following my authorization, the Department of Defense was surprised to receive a wholesale refusal, in writing, from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Capitol Police, who do not report to me, but report to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The law requires their authorization before any troop deployment could be utilized in Washington, D.C.,” he continued.

"Why the failure to act or use this ready force?" Trump asked in his letter.

The former president also took shots at the continued investigations of the committee.

“Despite very poor television ratings, the Unselect Committee has perpetuated a Show Trial the likes of which this Country has never seen before,” he wrote. “There is no Due Process, no Cross-Examination, no ‘real’ Republican members, and no legitimacy since you do not talk about Election Fraud or not calling up the troops. It is a Witch Hunt of the highest level, a continuation of what has been going on for year.”

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Washington state-based Finance and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters.