In his final bid to avoid testifying before the January 6 committee, former President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit challenging the subpoena to testify before the panel. Trump’s attorney David A. Warrington on Friday contended in a 41-page complaint that a former president cannot be compelled to testify before Congress.
“His partisan Committee insists on pursuing a political path, leaving President Trump with no choice but to involve the third branch, the judicial branch, in this dispute between the executive and legislative branches,” Warrington said.
The lawsuit aligns with the Republican position that the January 6 Committee was illegal and lacks the power to issue binding subpoenas. While the committee expects to wind down by the end of the year and submit its final report in the next few months, challenging Trump’s litigation would draw it into a long-drawn legal tussle.
The court case will also affect Trump since he looks forward to declaring his re-election bid next week. A number of Republican sources alleged that the committee wanted to base its final report on Trump with the ill intention of leaving out the role of law enforcement in the January 6 Capitol invasion.
The subpoena sent to Trump in October extended his date of appearance before the committee to November 14. The deadline for submitting all relevant documents in his care was extended from November 4 to November 11. The chair of the panel, Bernie Thompson, and vice-chair Liz Cheney have not spoken on the latest lawsuit challenging the subpoena.
