Jan. 6 panel and subpoenas: Committee targets witnesses linked to day of attack

The Democratic-led House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued subpoenas to more than a dozen individuals, including several former Trump administration officials and organizers behind the Jan. 6 rally held before the deadly siege.

The committee has sent subpoenas to ex-Trump strategist Steve Bannon, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, ex-White House deputy chief of staff for communications Dan Scavino and Kash Patel, who was chief of staff to then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, among others.

Although Bannon was not part of the Trump administration on Jan. 6, he refused to cooperate on the grounds of executive privilege, a legal shield used to protect presidential conversations and records. The committee disagreed, and as a result the House referred him for a criminal contempt charge, which is now before the Justice Department.

Also, the panel — alongside the National Archives agency – is in the midst of fighting a lawsuit from former President Trump seeking to block the release of certain records.

The panel has delayed most of its scheduled depositions for witnesses engaged in talks with the committee. In addition, some named and unnamed witnesses have already turned over records and taken part in interviews or depositions, but the committee is declining to publicly name those cooperating for now.

“We’re seeing robust cooperation from a lot of witnesses, most people are really participating and understand the legal and civic duty, nature, of the discussion, so that’s good,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and a member of the committee, told NPR said in late October. “There have been dozens of interviews, as well as depositions.”

The committee has also issued orders to 35 tech companies to preserve records, plus document requests to eight federal agencies and 15 social media companies.

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