The House Select Committee on Jan. 6 subpoenaed 10 more officials who worked in former President Donald Trump’s White House on Tuesday, including then-press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and senior adviser Stephen Miller.
The 10 names are the J6’s committee’s latest batch of subpoenas since it began its inquiry earlier this year. It first subpoenaed numerous Trump officials and allies including Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows, while its second batch targeted organizers of the pro-Trump rally that preceded the storming of the Capitol. A third batch released Monday targeted former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and five other prominent members of the administration.
The other eight names included in Tuesday’s list include former assistants to the president Nicholas Luna, Molly Michael, Cassidy Hutchinson and Benjamin Williamson, former deputy chief of staff Christopher Liddell, former White House personnel director John McEntee, former DOJ counsel Kenneth Klukowski and Kenneth Kellogg, who served as senior national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence.
“The Select Committee wants to learn every detail of what went on in the White House on January 6th and in the days beforehand,” Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement. “We need to know precisely what role the former President and his aides played in efforts to stop the counting of the electoral votes and if they were in touch with anyone outside the White House attempting to overturn the outcome of the election.”
US Representatives Elaine Luria, Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney, Jamie Raskin, Adam Kinzinger and Chairman Bennie Thompson, speak to the media following testimony during the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol adjourned their first hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on July 27, 2021. (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
“We believe the witnesses subpoenaed today have relevant information and we expect them to comply fully with the Select Committee’s investigation as we work to get answers for the American people, make recommendations on changes to the law to protect our democracy, and help ensure that nothing like January 6th ever happens again,” he added. (RELATED: Jan. 6 Committee Threatens Contempt Referrals Over Defied Subpoenas)
Trump released a statement deriding the move less than an hour after the committee announced the subpoenas, claiming Congress should instead focus on his unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
“The Unselect Committee of politically ambitious hacks continues to subpoena people wanting to know about those protesting, on January 6th, the insurrection which took place during the Presidential Election of November 3rd,” Trump wrote. “There is so much proof, but the Fake News Media refuses to print it or show it in any way, shape, or form.”
The committee is tasked with investigating the facts and causes of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot as well as “issues relating to the peaceful transfer of power.” Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff stated in September that those who refuse to cooperate with the Jan. 6 committee may face charges of criminal contempt.
President Joe Biden went further in October, outright calling for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute any former Trump officials who attempt to avoid the committee’s subpoenas.
“I hope that the committee goes after them and holds them accountable,” the president said at the time.