The House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol stated Tuesday that it had subpoenaed six individuals "who promoted false allegations of a fraudulent 2020 presidential election," indicating a new focus for the congressional panel.
According to the committee, it had sent subpoenas Christina Bobb of One America News Network, lawyer Cleta Mitta and other Trump-allied lawyers.
Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Committee Chair, wrote to Bobb that the investigation had "found credible evidence that your public promotion of claims that the November 2020 election has been stolen and that you participated in attempts to delay or disrupt the certifications of the election results based upon those claims."
He claimed that she was also "reportedly involved" in the creation of an executive order for Donald Trump, which would have directed federal agencies "to seize voting machines from many contested states." She was also "present in Rudy Giuliani’s war room at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021."
Thompson wrote Mitchell that he had evidence that Mitchell "actively promoted election fraud claims on behalf of former President Trump" and tried to persuade federal and state officials to reverse the results.
Thompson noted that Mitchell was a prominent conservative lawyer who "participated to a call where President Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State to find' enough votes in order to reverse his loss."
Kurt Olsen was one of the others who was subpoenaed. He is a Trump lawyer who sent emails asking the Department of Justice to file a lawsuit with the Supreme Court challenging President Joe Biden’s win in the election.
Thompson wrote that he had "multiple telephone calls" with Trump in his January 6, 2021, according to the Select Committee materials.
Although the committee didn't disclose how they came to be in possession of these materials, the panel was able to access Trump's White House telephone logs from the National Archives after a long legal battle that reached the Supreme Court.
Bobb, Olsen, and Mitchell's lawyers did not immediately respond when asked.
Mitchell sued the Jan.6 committee last month to stop the panel from obtaining Mitchell's phone records from AT&T.
Her lawsuit stated that "Ms. Mitchell’s legal work in Georgia in late 2020 and early 2021 were entirely lawful, protected by the First Amendment, & wholly unrelated with the events that occurred in Washington, D.C. on January 6th."
Trump and his associates repeatedly made false claims about the theft of the 2020 presidential election. They also promoted conspiracy theories as hard facts. These lies were cited by the committee as part of the attack on Capitol.
Thompson stated last week that the panel interviewed more than 550 witnesses.
Other subpoenas were issued Tuesday to lawyer Katherine Friess. Thompson claimed that she was involved in "efforts to subpoena voter machines from county elections boards"; former Kansas Attorney General Phillip Kline who, the panel stated, convened a meeting with Trump and state legislators to "disseminate purported evidences of election fraud"; and Kenneth Chesebro who " actively supported legal theories"
Friess Kline, Chesebro and Chesebro didn't immediately respond to our requests for comment.
