Newsdeck

CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENA

Trump is not ‘man enough’ to testify in January 6 probe, says Pelosi

President Donald J Trump delivers the State of the Union address, as Vice-President Mike Pence (left) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi react, at the Capitol in Washington, DC, US, 5 February 2019. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Doug Mills / POOL)

Former president Donald Trump is too much of a coward to obey a subpoena from the US Congress compelling him to testify to a special committee investigating his role in the January 6 2021 attack on the Capitol, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested on Sunday.

“I don’t think he’s man enough to show up. I don’t think his lawyers will want him to show up because he has to testify under oath,” Pelosi said in an interview with MSNBC.

“We’ll see if he’s man enough to show up,” she added.

On Friday, the select committee announced that it had issued the subpoena to Trump, giving him until November 4 to submit a wide range of documents related to his activities before and after the deadly January 6 attack by the former president’s supporters. The panel also informed Trump that it wants him to appear for testimony on or about November 14.

Since he lost the 2020 election, Trump has insisted he is the victim of widespread voter fraud, an allegation that has been dismissed by scores of court cases and audits.

Nevertheless, Trump has maintained he did nothing illegal in pressing that case, including on the day of the Capitol riot. He regularly refers to the congressional panel as the “unselect committee” and has accused it of waging unfair political attacks on him.

The violence at the Capitol erupted as Trump supporters attempted to stop Congress from formally certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s decisive win in the 2020 presidential election.

Trump and Pelosi have had a long, stormy relationship.

She guided two impeachment proceedings against him and their dislike of each other sometimes was on public display during his presidency.

At the conclusion of Trump’s 2020 State of the Union speech to Congress, Pelosi disdainfully tore in half a printed copy of that address as she sat behind him during the nationally televised event. That came after Trump arrived at the House podium to begin the speech and refused to shake Pelosi’s hand.

The previous year, a White House meeting between Trump and congressional leaders on US policy in Syria erupted in anger when Trump reportedly called Pelosi a “third-rate politician” and later said she was “unhinged”.

Outside the White House following the meeting that Democrats stormed out of, Pelosi told reporters Trump had suffered a “meltdown”.

‘CRIMINAL OFFENCES’

Also on Sunday, Republican Representative Liz Cheney told NBC’s Meet the Press that Trump probably has committed several criminal offences that the US Department of Justice potentially can prosecute him on.

“We have been very clear about a number of different criminal offences that are likely at issue here,” said Cheney, one of two Republican members on the select House panel.

“He has demonstrated his willingness to use force to attempt to stop the peaceful transition of power,” Cheney said.

She did not lay out specific criminal charges the committee could recommend in an upcoming report following a more than yearlong investigation.

Cheney, who lost her Republican leadership role over her criticism of Trump, as well as her 2022 primary election, said: “We have put on testimony that he admitted that he lost [the 2020 presidential election].

“But even if he thought that he had won, you may not send an armed mob to the Capitol. You may not sit for 187 minutes and refuse to stop the attack while it’s under way. You may not send a tweet that incites further violence,” Cheney said.

Cheney did not say what the panel would do if Trump refuses to cooperate with the subpoena. If he testifies, she said, “he’s not going to turn this into a circus”.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Katharine Jackson; Editing by Bill Berkrot.)

Gallery

Comments - Please in order to comment.

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Daily Maverick Elections Toolbox

Feeling powerless in politics?

Equip yourself with the tools you need for an informed decision this election. Get the Elections Toolbox with shareable party manifesto guide.