Washington, D.C. The House committee looking into the Capitol riot made it clear on Sunday that it would not be considering allowing the former president to testify live on television about the alleged direct role he had in trying to rig the 2020 election, raising the stakes on its unusual subpoena to him.
The committee is demanding Trump’s testimony under oath next month as well as records relevant to its investigation.
Trump reportedly told associates he could think about obeying the subpoena if he could answer questions during live testimony in order to avoid a difficult and drawn-out court struggle.
Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice head of the committee, however, ruled out the option on Sunday.
She said the committee, which makes its major decisions with unanimous consent, would not allow Trump’s testimony to turn into a “food fight” on TV and she warned that the committee will take action if he does not comply with the subpoena.
Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, stated on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “we are going to proceed in terms of the questioning of the former president under oath.”
It might take many days, but it will be completed with the rigour, discipline, and seriousness it requires. We won’t permit him to make this into a circus, and he won’t.
She stated, “If the former president decides he is not going to comply with his legal commitment, a legal obligation any American citizen has to comply with a subpoena, we have many, many possibilities that we will consider.”
It is unknown how Trump and his legal counsel will react in the end.
He might accede, compromise with the committee, declare he would ignore the subpoena, or all three. He could try to stop it in court.
Still, there remains little legal advantage for Trump to cooperate with the committee at a time when he faces other legal battles in various jurisdictions, including over his family business in New York and the handling of presidential records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
If his attorneys decide to challenge the subpoena in court, they might just be able to extend the deadline since the committee, which is made up of two Republicans and seven Democrats, has until the end of the year to complete its job.
In the television interview, Cheney made it clear that she believed Trump had done “many criminal acts” and ought to face charges. She cited his persistent efforts, which were described in the Jan.
6 committee to undercut democracy by denying his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the election and encouraging his supporters to storm the Capitol in a violent manner.
Cheney stated, “We’ve been pretty explicit about a number of various criminal violations that are probably at issue here. “I think that really brings into question whether or not we’re a nation of laws if the Department of Justice finds that they have the evidence that we feel is there and they decide not to prosecute.
” Cheney, who lost in Wyoming’s August primary after becoming Trump’s fiercest GOP critic, expressed dismay over the number of Republican candidates in the Nov. 8 midterms who deny the legitimacy of the 2020 election. She conceded that if Republicans regain control of the House, the Jan. 6 committee’s inquiry will be permanently concluded in January.
Cheney asserted that the Republican Party can rediscover its role as a champion of democracy and the Constitution, even if she acknowledged that it might take “a couple of election cycles.” She saw the 2024 presidential election as a crucial period.
She asserted that the party must reverse its current course, which she described as “a very dangerous, toxic place,” or else it will fracture and a new conservative party will emerge.
And if Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination, the Republican Party will disintegrate, and a conservative party will emerge in its stead.
Trump, according to her, has demonstrated “his willingness to employ force in an effort to thwart the peaceful transfer of power.” And whatever their party allegiance, there are just many, many more Americans who are aware of how hazardous that is.
Visit https://www.apnews. com/capitol-siege for comprehensive coverage of the proceedings on January 6.
Cheney: Trump’s live TV testimony won’t be heard by the panel on January 6
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