Jan. 6 Committee Subpoenas Phone Records From 100+ More People

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The House committee investigating the Capitol riot has subpoenaed communication records for over 100 people, according to a new CNN report. The newly demanded materials do not include the content of communications under scrutiny — although separately, federal prosecutors have utilized the content of such messages to help build criminal cases against Capitol rioters — but the panel is instead after information related to the circumstances of individual calls and messages. As summarized by CNN, the records that are the subject of the subpoenas include “details about who called or texted whom, when and for how long, giving [investigators] the ability to draw a web of communications before, during and after” the riot.

Those whose records have been demanded include Mark Meadows, a former chief of staff in the Trump White House who opted this week to discontinue his cooperation with the riot investigation committee. Per statements from those involved in the investigation, the panel is now likely to move to hold Meadows in contempt of Congress, referring him for prosecution. In the meantime, CNN also reports that investigators are of the persuasion that the newly subpoenaed communication records “will help them piece together communications between those in former President Donald Trump’s official orbit and the people who organized the rally that preceded the Capitol attack and rioters who participated in the violence.”

There have already been questions about what was known about the impending violence by people with ties to Trump — and theoretically maybe even Trump himself. Steve Bannon — a longtime Trump ally who was in touch with the then-president around the time of the violence — said the day before the riot that “all hell” would unfold the following day. What did he know? According to CNN, “most of the phone records subpoenaed by the committee belong to individuals who have also been looked at by the Justice Department for their actions on January 6.” Compliance with the subpoenas has already begun, and the committee continues to pursue other lines of inquiry as well — it’s heard from over 250 witnesses so far, and multiple weeks of public hearings are in development for next year. Read more at this link.