Jan. 6 panel eying subpoenas to force Republican reps to cooperate

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is eyeing subpoenas to compel Republican lawmakers to cooperate with the probe, according to its chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).

Asked by co-anchor Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday if the panel is willing to subpoena Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who have both so far refused to cooperate with the investigation, Thompson said, “We will look at whatever opportunities we can to get those people to come in.”

Pressed on whether that includes a subpoena, Thompson said, “We will look at it.”

“I’m not going to — I would hope that those individuals who took an oath of office as a member of the Congress would come forward. That’s why we have asked them to come voluntarily, and we think coming voluntarily should do it,” Thompson said.

“Now, if not, then, obviously, we will discuss what other options that we will have available to us as a committee,” he added.

Thompson said it is “unfortunate” that the Republican lawmakers “won’t come forward and help us guarantee” an event like Jan. 6 “will never happen again” despite most members acknowledging it was a “very dark day” for the country.

He noted that Jordan spoke with then-President Trump on Jan. 6 and that Perry “tried to replace the current attorney general with somebody else who would do the wishes, bidding of President Trump with respect to the elections.”

Asked during a separate interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday if he thinks the panel will have to subpoena a sitting member of Congress, Thompson told host Chuck Todd that if it has the authority to do so, which is currently in question, it probably would.

“I think there’s some questions of whether we have the authority to do it. We’re looking at it. If authorities are there, there’ll be no reluctance on our part,” he added.

The committee has already issued subpoenas to a number of individuals who are believed to be connected to the Jan. 6 attack, including former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and former White House adviser Stephen Bannon.

The House voted to hold both men in criminal contempt of Congress for not complying with subpoenas from the select committee. A federal grand jury indicted Bannon in November.

While Meadows provided thousands of pages of documents to the panel, he did not sit for a scheduled deposition. Bannon, on the other hand, has declined to provide documents and failed to appear for a scheduled deposition.