Jan. 6 Committee Withdraws Trump Subpoena

Facts

• The House Jan. 6 committee has formally withdrawn its subpoena of former Pres. Trump, with committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) citing "the imminent end of our investigation" in a statement sent to Trump's lawyers.
• Following the news, Trump issued a statement on Truth Social arguing that the "Unselect Committee of political Thugs [sic]" likely made the decision "because they knew I did nothing wrong, or they were about to lose in Court [sic]."
• The subpoena was originally issued in October — ordering Trump to testify as well as hand over documents and communications such as phone calls, texts, and emails — though he promptly sued to block it, making it unlikely the committee would ever receive its requests.
• The move is the latest in a series of subpoena withdrawals, including for former Trump advisor Sebastian Gorka, former White House advisor Stephen Miller, and elections lawyer Cleta Mitchell. It also follows the committee's recommendation last week that Trump should be barred from holding any future office under the 14th Amendment's disqualification clause.
• Though the subpoena's original intent was to obtain Trump's documents by Nov. 4 and depose him starting Nov. 14, the counter-lawsuit has stalled proceedings while the committee is set to officially expire on Dec. 31.
• As the committee came to its conclusion, it also issued a final referral to the US Dept. of Justice (DOJ) on four potential criminal charges, though they hold no legal weight. However, the DOJ has been conducting its own probe into Jan. 6 including investigating Trump.

Sources: ABC, FOX News, New York Times, National Review, and CNN.

Narratives

• Pro-Trump narrative, as provided by Red State. As anyone following the committee could tell, this subpoena was purposefully dead on arrival and only issued to create an anti-Trump media cycle the month leading up to the midterm elections. While that goal was certainly achieved, the subpoena itself was still a failure by the committee. It centered the entire so-called "investigation" around Trump and was never able to get what it wanted from him.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by Washington Post. The committee's goal from the beginning was to collect evidence of wrongdoing by both Trump and his associates before and on the day of Jan. 6, 2021, which is exactly what it achieved. After months of revelations showing Trump's attempts to change the election and subsequently provoke an insurrection, the American people said enough is enough and voted against almost every Trump-endorsed candidate in November.

Predictions