Trump asked to appear before committee on January 6

• Text message was sent to former President Donald Trump.
• It says he was at the center of an unsuccessful effort to overturn an election.
• “You knew this action was unlawful and unconstitutional,” the text says.

Former President Donald Trump has been served with a judicial summons requiring him to appear before legislators as part of the congressional panel’s investigation into the Capitol incident last year.

“You were at the center of the first and only effort by any US President to overturn an election,” the text says, addressing him.

“You knew this action was unlawful and unconstitutional,” it continues.

The legislators on the committee, according to a Trump attorney, were “flouting norms.”

With the US midterm elections coming up next month, the former president has denounced the investigation as a ploy intended to divert voters’ attention away from the “disaster” of Democratic rule.

If Mr. Trump ignores the subpoena, he might be charged with a crime.

He has until November 4 to submit materials to the committee that will meet on January 6 and must show up for a deposition testimony on or around November 14.

If Mr. Trump declines to appear before Congress or provide the necessary information, the committee may submit the case to the Department of Justice, which may result in legal action.

After former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was fined $6,500 (£5,800) and given a four-month prison term for contempt of Congress, the subpoena was issued mere hours later.

After declining to provide the committee with testimony or evidence, he was found guilty.

After refusing to comply with a similar subpoena, another Trump assistant, Peter Navarro, is scheduled to go on trial for contempt of Congress the following month.
The select committee is investigating the violent takeover of the US Capitol building by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021.

Seven Democrats and two Republicans on the panel unanimously decided last week to require the Republican to provide a testimony regarding his involvement in the violence.

In an effort to stop Joe Biden from being recognized as the winner, lawmakers claim that Mr. Trump encouraged his followers to reject the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Chairman Bennie Thompson and vice-chairwoman Liz Cheney claimed that the committee had “assembled overwhelming evidence, including from dozens of your former appointees and staff, that you personally orchestrated and oversaw a multi-part effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.” The letter that accompanied the subpoena was signed by both of them.

The letter continued, “You took all of these actions despite the decisions of more than 60 courts rejecting your election fraud claims and other challenges to the legality of the 2020 presidential election, despite having specific and comprehensive information from the Justice Department and your senior campaign staff informing you that your election claims were false, and despite your obligation as President to ensure that the laws of our country are faithfully executed.

The legal defense of Mr. Trump attacked the subpoena.

Lawyer David Warrington said, “We hear that the Committee has publicly issued a copy of its subpoena, again flouting conventions and appropriate and usual practice.

We will evaluate and analyze it, and we will respond to this unusual move as appropriate, just like we would with any similar matter.

The 6 January committee will be disbanded if Republicans win back the majority in the House of Representatives in the next midterm elections, as is largely predicted to happen.

After losing a primary contest in August to a rival supported by Donald Trump, Ms. Cheney, the top Republican on the panel and the daughter of former Republican vice-president Dick Cheney, will step down in January. Adam Kinzinger, the sole other Republican on the committee, intends to leave his position at the conclusion of the current congressional session.

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