The House committee investigating the Capitol riot is continuing to circle former President Donald Trump, seemingly getting ever closer. Now, the panel (through its chairperson, Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson) has revealed intentions of pursuing testimony from longtime Trump ally Rudy Giuliani. The former New York City mayor relatively quickly became an integral part of the frenzied apparatus trying to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 presidential election. Rudy stopped by multiple states, delivering impassioned — and delirious — testimony about supposed election fraud that he claimed to have unfolded in the respective locales. The reality, of course, is that it was all nonsense.
Republican Mike Rounds responds to Trump: "I'm disappointed but not surprised by the former president's reaction. However, the facts remain the same. I stand by my statement. The former president lost the 2020 election."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 11, 2022
Thompson called Giuliani “an integral part of whatever happens” with the committee’s investigation, explaining that investigators “at some point, absolutely” hope to speak with him. As summarized by Forbes, Giuliani was “reportedly part of a small group of former President Donald Trump’s advisors present at the Willard Hotel in Washington leading up to January 6, 2021.” That group has been said to have “strategized plans about overturning the election just hours before the mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol,” Forbes adds. Questions have circulated, including (recently) from riot investigation committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), about what Trump may have known of the potential for violence in the lead-up to January 6, and Giuliani could provide insights about this line of inquiry, among other things.
These revelations of the riot panel’s hopes of hearing from Giuliani emerged not long after it also came out that the committee is hoping to speak with former Vice President Mike Pence, who faced intense pressure from the then-president and others in his orbit to block the certification of Biden’s victory when Congress met on January 6. The problem is that Pence, in his role overseeing the Congressional proceedings to certify the election outcome, did not actually have the legally recognized ability to take such a step. Doing so would have amounted to overturning the duly documented will of the people of the United States — a disturbingly anti-democratic notion, and one that came unsettlingly close to being seen through.
New: Jan. 6 committee chair Bennie Thompson says Trump Willard “war room” lawyer Rudy Giuliani remains on list of people they want to interview, potentially pursuant to a subpoena — as I reported last month.
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) January 11, 2022
Meanwhile, the riot investigation committee also announced a new round of subpoenas this week. Targets include three individuals who were involved with putting together the outdoor rally in D.C. that immediately preceded the attack on the Capitol. Trump spoke at that rally, and one of the newly subpoenaed individuals — Ross Worthington — apparently assisted in the drafting of the remarks that the then-president delivered to supporters. The other targets of the new subpoenas include Andy Surabian and Arthur Schwartz, who were identified by the committee as advisers to Donald Trump, Jr.
Breaking: Bennie Thompson, chairman of the Jan. 6 Committee, tells NBC News that the panel wants to speak with Rudy Giuliani and is not ruling out a subpoena to compel his testimony. @MSNBC
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 11, 2022
