On Wednesday, Representative Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the House Select Committee investigating events at the Capitol on January 6 of 2021, sent a letter to former President Donald Trump’s attorneys formally withdrawing its subpoena demanding that he appear before the committee.
“As you may know, the Select Committee has concluded its hearings, released its final report and will very soon reach its end. In light of the imminent end of our investigation, the Select Committee can no longer pursue the specific information covered by the subpoena,” Thompson wrote.
Among the partisan report’s conclusions were that the former president should be referred to the Justice Department on at least four criminal charges: insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding, making a false statement to the federal government, and conspiracy to defraud the federal government.
However, with the Democrats’ congressional “reign of terror” set to end and the GOP about to take control of the House of Representatives, the Jan. 6 Committee has given up their attempt to force Trump to testify at the dog and pony show.
“Therefore, through this letter, I hereby formally withdraw the subpoena issued to former President Donald Trump, and notify you that he is no longer obligated to comply or produce records in response to said subpoena,” Thompson wrote.
Attorney Harmeet Dhillon, whose firm Trump hired after receiving the congressional subpoena, shared the news on social media.
“After my firm filed suit on separation of powers grounds to block January 6 House Select Committee’s illegitimate subpoena to President Trump over his activities while president — the committee waved the white flag & withdrew subpoena,” Dhillon said on Twitter.
Dhillion, who is currently running to unseat Ronna McDaniel as the Republican National Committee chair, couldn’t resist a victory lap.
“We were confident of victory in court, given precedent & refusal of prior presidents to testify in Congress. J6 committee wasted millions for a purely political witch-hunt, total abuse of process & power serving no legitimate legislative purpose,” she tweeted.
Speaking on Fox News with Tulsi Gabbard, Dhillon said that the Jan. 6 Committee was really no more than “an extended advertisement” for Democrats.
“They pretty much used it as a commercial for their own side for the midterm elections,” she said.
According to Dhillon, giving up on the subpoena was not simply about the clock running out on Democrats as the GOP looks to take over House leadership in January.
“They could have stepped up and engaged with us and had a court ruling on the issue,” Dhillon said. “They did not want a court ruling on the issue. They knew they were wrong. They knew they were likely to lose, and as a result, they never fought us in court.”
True to his braggadocious nature, former President Trump trumpeted the news in his own way on his Truth Social platform:
“Was just advised that the Unselect Committee of political Thugs has withdrawn the Subpoena of me concerning the January 6th Protest of the CROOKED 2020 Presidential Election. They probably did so because they knew I did nothing wrong, or they were about to lose in Court. Perhaps the FBI’s involvement in RIGGING the Election played into their decision. In any event, the Subpoena is DEAD!”
Earlier this month, Trump addressed the criminal referrals that the Jan. 6 Committee made.
“These folks don’t get it that when they come after me, people who love freedom rally around me. It strengthens me. What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger,” he said in statement. “Americans know that I pushed for 20,000 troops to prevent violence on Jan 6, and that I went on television and told everyone to go home.”
At any rate, the national embarrassment known as the January 6 Committee is finally coming to an end. The committee had only a thin veneer of bipartisanship, with its Democrat-approved GOP members Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) generally agreeing with Democrats.
When the history is written, the January 6 Committee will go down as a bizarre and extremely partisan witch hunt in which nothing of any substance was uncovered. Breathless reporting by left-wing media wanted the American people to be outraged at what they heard, but in the end, nobody paid much attention to it.
