Will Donald Trump have to appear before the January 6 House Select Committee? Ignore one of their subpoenas, and it is possible to land in jail. That is where Steve Bannon is, and now the Committee is poised to issue one for both former chief of staff Mark Meadows (R) and former Department of Justice employee Jeffrey Clark. Why did the Committee give Clark so many options? Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) may have those answers.
Vice-chair of the Select Committee Cheney said at the vote, according to The Los Angeles Times:
‘The committee would certainly consider that we will not finalize his contempt process if Mr. Clark genuinely cures his failure to comply with the subpoena this Saturday.’
House select committee investigating Jan. 6 Capitol attack unanimously recommended contempt charges against former Trump Justice Dept. official Jeffrey Clark, as panel leaders agreed to give him an opportunity to comply with their subpoena this weekend. https://t.co/pwdRot0NgI pic.twitter.com/3ewfhrwW4c
— ABC News (@ABC) December 2, 2021
During one of the panel’s regular meetings, it sent out another referral for criminal contempt. It is ready to bring criminal contempt charges to be voted on by the full House. Certainly, the ex-president has not offered the man who appeared to be in nearly as deeply as Trump any sort of get-out-of-jail card, as he did for Bannon. In fact, Clark has not spoken to the former president for months.
Cheney, said at the vote according to ABC News:
‘House select committee investigating Jan. 6 Capitol attack unanimously recommended contempt charges against former Trump Justice Dept. official Jeffrey Clark, as panel leaders agreed to give him an opportunity to comply with their subpoena this weekend.’
Select Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-MI) responded to a reporter’s question about whether it might subpoena the ex-president, “no one is off-limits.”
Trump worked in tandem with Clark to force the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) to respond to the Big Lie and throw the election to 45. Whether or not the ex-president believes his own fiction is in question.
Clark came to the Committee after he received a subpoena, but he did not respond to any questions. Then, he just got up and left. Thompson said that they were giving the DOJ employee another chance, because they did not want to give the impression of being biased against the Republicans.
Should Trump blow off a subpoena, too, the Committee would file a contempt report. That would show all the communications among him, his lawyers, and the committee staff members.
Select Committee member Jaime Raskin (D-MD) said, according to The Guardian:
”The fifth amendment is part of the constitution. Our committee is here to defend the constitution against a violent assault. So we’re not going to begrudge anyone an honest invocation of the fifth amendment.’
‘If he thinks that his communications with Trump or anyone else reveal criminal activity, and he has a reasonable fear that that can be used against him, then he’s got an opportunity to exercise the fifth amendment.’
Then, if the ex-president lied to the Select Committee’s investigators, he would face charges identical to those Roger Stone experienced prior to his pardon. Only this time around, there would be no one to pardon Trump.
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