US House panel probing Jan 6 Capitol riot seeks Trump records
Aug 26, 2021
Washington [US], August 26 : The House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol is seeking a trove of documents and communications from the Trump administration, giving the White House record keepers and other agencies two weeks to turn over information on a lengthy list of prominent people in the former president's orbit.
The first wave of document requests were delivered to the National Archives -- where White House records are retained -- as well as the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and others, The Hill reported.
The letter asks for documents and communications from within the White House "relating in any way" to former first lady Melania Trump; three of the former president's children, Ivanka, Eric and Donald Trump Jr.; son-in-law Jared Kushner; as well as any member of Congress or Hill staffers.
The letter also asks for the National Archives to turn over communications with all of Trump's top aides, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, national security adviser Robert O'Brien, Hope Hicks, Stephen Miller and Kayleigh McEnany, The Hill further reported.
The January 6 panel is also seeking White House communications with other key names in Trump's orbit, including Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, Trump's onetime attorney Rudy Giuliani and My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell.
The sweeping requests show the committee is focused not just on the events of the day but placing the riot in the broader context of Trump's months-long effort to contest the election.
"The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol is examining the facts, circumstances, and causes of the January 6th attack. Our Constitution provides for a peaceful transfer of power, and this investigation seeks to evaluate threats to that process, identify lessons learned and recommend laws, policies, procedures, rules, or regulations necessary to protect our republic in the future," the committee chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), wrote in the letter sent to the agencies.
It also asks for the White House visitor records for January 6. along with "all documents and communications related to efforts, plans, or proposals to contest the 2020 Presidential election results."
On January 6, a group of supporters of former President Donald Trump entered the US Capitol in a bid to protest the lawmakers certifying the 2020 election results from several states that Trump said were fraudulent. One protester was shot dead during the incident and the law enforcement authorities charged 500 people for participating in the event.
