‘No One Is Off the Table’ for January 6 Committee Subpoenas, Adam

Subpoenas issued to four people “very close” to former President Donald Trump show that “no one is off the table” for the House select committee investigating the Capitol riots, one of its members has warned.

Rep. Adam Schiff said on Thursday that some of the four had been “in direct communication” with Trump on the eve and day of the January 6 disorder.

Subpoenas have been sent to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, ex-adviser Steve Bannon and Department of Defense official Kash Patel.

Speaking on CNN‘s Cuomo Prime Time on Thursday, Schiff said: “These are four important witnesses. They’re all very close to the former president. Some were in direct communication with him on January 5th, on January 6th. They are reportedly in communication about how to overturn the results of the election.

Schiff told host Chris Cuomo that the four witnesses’ testimony could also help “direct our focus on others.”

Asked what the subpoenas showed about the inquiry’s direction, Schiff replied: “Well, I think it tells you this: no one is off the table.

“We’ll determine what went wrong in the lead-up to January 6th and we’re going to find out who was involved and who was knowledgeable and what roles they played in the planning, what expectation they had of violence, and what the former president was doing.

“Among the biggest unknowns is what was going on within the White House on January 5th and 6th at that critical time, when our democracy was being threatened with a violent insurrection. So, we’re not wasting time … we’ve made a lot of strides in requiring documents that we need for the investigation.”

Trump has promised to use powers he once wielded as president to “fight” the subpoenas and suggested that the House committee should issue subpoenas to “Antifa” and Black Lives Matter—two loosely organized, decentralized groups that were not involved in the January 6 violence.

Asked about the possibility of witnesses stonewalling the committee, Schiff said members did “anticipate that some may seek to thwart our investigation.”

He added: “But unlike the last four years, these witnesses are not going to be able to count on the former president to protect them if they essentially thwart the law, and I would hope that we can move expeditiously to enforce the subpoenas. If that’s necessary, I hope it won’t be, but if it is, but also that the Justice Department would be open to considering potential criminal contempt charges against anyone who ignores the law.”

So far the committee has heard testimony from police officers who were at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

It has also sought documents and communications from Trump’s White House on the day of the riot, and sent requests for further information to social media companies, the National Archives and Records Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice.