Donald Trump intends to assert executive privilege in a congressional investigation into the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, a move that could prevent the testimony of onetime aides.
A letter sent by lawyers for the former president went to at least some witnesses who were subpoenaed by the House committee and it makes clear Trump plans to invoke privileges meant to protect presidential communications from being shared with Congress.
Representatives of the former president did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
The move sets the stage for a likely clash with House Democrats who are investigating the roles of Trump and his allies in the run-up to the riot, when thousands of Trump supporters broke into the Capitol as Congress was certifying the results of the presidential election won by Joe Biden.
The committee is rapidly issuing subpoenas to individuals who are either connected to Trump or helped plan the massive rally on the morning of January 6 at which he told his supporters to “fight like hell”.
The committee last month issued subpoenas to Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff; Dan Scavino, former deputy chief of staff for communications; Kashyap Patel, a former Defence Department official; and Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser.
The committee has issued more than a dozen subpoenas to people linked to plans for the January 6 protests, including three additional witnesses announced on Thursday.
Those individuals would be less likely to get help from Trump’s executive privilege claims, which would be limited to people who worked in the White House.
Committee chairman Bennie Thompson said subpoenas had gone to Ali Abdul Akbar, also known as Ali Alexander, and Nathan Martin, as well as the organisation Stop the Steal, to learn more about a rally planned on the Capitol grounds at the same time as the larger gathering on the National Mall.
“The rally on the Capitol grounds on January 6th, like the rally near the White House that day, immediately preceded the violent attack on the seat of our democracy,” Thompson said in a statement.
“Over the course of that day, demonstrations escalated to violence and protesters became rioters.”
Thompson said the committee “needs to understand all the details about the events that came before the attack, including who was involved in planning and funding them”.
AAP
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