White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany holds a press briefing at the White House in Washington, July 6, 2020.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
The House committee probing the Jan. 6 Capitol riot on Tuesday subpoenaed former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, senior advisor Stephen Miller and other ex-White House officials to testify in the investigation and provide relevant documents.
In addition to McEnany and Miller, those subpoenaed include former White House personnel director John McEntee, former deputy chief of staff Christopher Liddell, and Keith Kellogg, national security advisor to former Vice President Mike Pence.
The other subpoena recipients are Nicholas Luna, who served as personal assistant to then-President Donald Trump; Cassidy Hutchinson, who was his special assistant for legislative affairs; Kenneth Klukowski, former senior counsel to Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark; Benjamin Williamson, who served as senior advisor to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows; and Molly Michael, who served as Oval Office operations coordinator.
The latest round of subpoenas came a day after the same panel issued subpoenas to six top Trump allies.
In a statement announcing the subpoenas, the committee noted that McEnany “made multiple public statements from the White House and elsewhere about purported fraud in the November 2020 election.”
The panel said that at the first White House press conference after the 2020 presidential election, “McEnany claimed that there were ‘very real claims’ of fraud that the former President’s reelection campaign was pursuing, and said that mail-in voting was something that ‘we have identified as being particularly prone to fraud.'”
In its statement, the panel also noted that “McEnany was reportedly present at times with the former President as he watched the January 6th attack.”
Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who is chairman of the probe panel, in a statement said, “The Select Committee wants to learn every detail of what went on in the White House on January 6th and in the days beforehand.”
“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,” Thompson said.
“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.”
Monday’s subpoenas were issued to former national security advisor Michael Flynn, ex-Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller, and lawyer John Eastman, who wrote a controversial memo arguing that Pence had the power to reject the Electoral College victory of Joe Biden during a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6.
Other people who received subpoenas Monday were Bill Stepien, who managed Trump’s failed reelection campaign last year, campaign executive assistant Angela McCallum, and former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, the recipient of a criminal pardon from Trump and a reported attendee of a meeting in Washington where Trump allies discussed potential efforts to overturn Biden’s win.
Jason Miller, former senior advisor to 2020 Trump campaign, carriers a witness list to the Senate Chamber at the U.S., Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021.
Greg Nash | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Trump blasted the probe in a statement Tuesday, saying, “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 has repeatedly falsely claimed that he won the election and it was widespread voter fraud that put Biden in the White House. He made that claim again Tuesday.
Trump has filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Jan. 6 committee from obtaining White House records related to the riot.
A federal judge said Tuesday she expects “to rule expeditiously” in the case, as she rejected a request by Trump’s lawyers to issue an emergency stay that would bar the National Archives from turning over the records.
The riot by a mob of Trump supporters began toward the end of a rally Trump held outside the White House that day, where he urged people to march to the Capitol to protest against Congress’ confirmation of Biden’s election as president.
Thousands of people invaded the area around the Capitol and breached the doors and windows of the complex. Five people died in connection with the riot, among them Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. More than a hundred other officers were injured after being attacked by the mob.
Three weeks ago, the House voted to hold former White House senior advisor Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress for his refusal to comply with a subpoena issued by the Jan. 6 committee, which is seeking documents and a deposition of him.
Bannon reportedly was one of the participants at the Jan. 5 meeting at a Washington hotel with Miller, Kerik, and Trump’s former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.
