The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol has yet to formally subpoena former President Donald Trump, partially because they cannot determine which of his many lawyers can accept such an order on his behalf.
According to a report from ABC News, multiple lawyers for Trump who are working on various legal matters for him have told the January 6 committee that they are not authorized to accept a subpoena order relating to their investigation.
Once the committee learns who is authorized to accept the subpoena, it’s expected to send the order to Trump as soon as possible, sources familiar with the matter say. Only one other matter of business is delaying the sending of the subpoena: the deadline for the former president to respond.
Part of the difficulty in identifying the proper lawyer is that Trump has had a hard time hiring and retaining legal counsel as of late. According to some media reports, his problems stem from his not paying lawyers in the past.
In weeks following the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, Trump struggled to find lawyers for that reason, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said.
“You are seeing many fewer lawyers who are willing to go out and speak for him and/or hitch their wagon [to him] and maybe not get paid — which is a big thing,” she said during an appearance on CNN.
In what was possibly the final public hearing the committee will hold, the panel’s members unanimously agreed to subpoena Trump for records relating to the Capitol attack and to have him give an in-person deposition. After that vote occurred, Trump began telling confidants that he would agree to give testimony only if it was on live television.
A live appearance would require “a negotiation” between himself and the committee, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois) has said.
According to an Economist/YouGov poll published this week, a plurality of voters, 46 percent, say they approve of the decision by the committee to subpoena Trump. 30 percent said they didn’t approve of it.
A majority of voters, meanwhile, say that Trump should testify before Congress regarding the January 6 attacks, with 53 percent agreeing and only 29 percent disagreeing.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today during our fundraiser. We have until midnight tonight to add 132 new monthly donors. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.