Capitol insurrection: Deadline looms over Trump associates who have been subpoenaed by House Committee

Several high-profile associates of twice-impeached former President Donald Trump have been subpoenaed into turning over their records from the days before and during January 6. Following the issuance, the deadline appears to be drawing closer for the associates who have been subpoenaed by the panel probing the Capitol insurrection.

A report by Politico revealed that the next big clash between the members of the now-former president’s inner circle and the House Committee is set to happen this week. Those members of the inner circle are given until Thursday to respond to the committee’s subpoena on whether they will comply or not. Kyle Cheney wrote that the former president is running out of time to attempt to block the National Archives from turning over records of his White House to the panel.

Aside from the former president’s records, the records of Kash Patel, Dan Scavino, Mark Meadows, and Steve Bannon are also being sought out by the committee. They also follow the same deadline to respond to the subpoena.

This follows the warning given by the committee’s chair, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, last week, that should they attempt to avoid responding to the subpoena, they would be criminally referred to the DOJ. It should also be noted that the committee has already expected that the associates would choose to avoid responding to the subpoena.

At the same time, they have also been hearing secret testimonies from former Trump administration officials that could be used to get these senior officials to talk and answer questions along with a threat of a referral to the Justice Department. This method has been used by the House Impeachment Committee during the former president’s first impeachment trials.

“Committee members expect that these witnesses won’t willingly cooperate -- one of the reasons the panel issued subpoenas without offering them a chance to voluntarily provide documents or testimony,” wrote Cheney.

Aside from Trump associates, it appears that even Trump’s own vice president, Mike Pence, may also get caught in the investigation. While Pence was also targeted by the mob that stormed the Capitol last January 6, the committee will also be looking into the former vice president’s role ahead of the insurrection.

The Washington Post reported that the memo drafted by conservative lawyer John Eastman showed that Pence’s role was a lot deeper than previously believed in the plan to keep Trump in office even after losing to Joe Biden.