Jan 6 subpoenas against Trump aides would be revoked under new bill

More than two dozen House Republicans are backing a push to revoke subpoenas sent to former President Trump aides by the now-defunct House select committee on Jan. 6.

Jun 20, 2024 - 07:11
Jan 6 subpoenas against Trump aides would be revoked under new bill

There is a new House GOP-led effort to revoke subpoenas that the House select committee on Jan. 6 sent to key aides of former President Trump. 

Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Eric Burlison, R-Mo., introduced a resolution on Tuesday to rescind subpoenas that the now-defunct committee sent to Steve Bannon, Mark Meadows, Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino.

It would also withdraw the contempt of Congress resolutions filed against each individual over his defiance of those subpoenas.

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"The Committee was used as a political weapon with a singular focus on taking down Trump and his advisors through the intentional manipulation of facts and the silencing of the minority party," Burlison said on X. "The subpoenas issued by the illegitimate Committee for Bannon, Navarro, Scavino, and Meadows were insufficient and should be rescinded, and the contempt of Congress referrals based on those subpoenas should be withdrawn."

Massie wrote on the platform, "Time is of the essence. Speaker Johnson should immediately bring this resolution to the floor for a vote!"

Former Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told Fox News Digital in response to the effort, "Thankfully, this resolution will have no impact. The subpoenas issued by the Select Committee were litigated exhaustively, with contempt of Congress charges going as high as the Supreme Court. Sadly, it’s just the latest attempt by House Republicans to subvert the rule of law and do Donald Trump’s bidding. Nothing will exonerate Trump from his actions on January 6 and nothing will change the fact that Bannon and Navarro are convicted criminals."

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office declined to comment. 

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As of Wednesday, the GOP legislation has 22 additional co-sponsors beyond the three lawmakers supporting it.

Bannon, Trump’s former strategic adviser, and Navarro, his former trade adviser, were both sentenced to four months in prison in cases stemming from their contempt referrals by Congress.

The Department of Justice did not prosecute Meadows or Scavino.

Pelosi established the select committee in mid-2021 in response to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, when the former president’s supporters stormed the building in protest of his election loss to President Biden.

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An initial vote to create a 9/11-style commission to investigate the riot passed the House, with 35 Republicans and all Democrats, but died in the Senate. The House subsequently voted to create a select committee – with just two GOP votes – which granted Pelosi full power of appointments in "consultation" with Republicans.

GOP critics of the panel have used that fight as evidence of the committee being a partisan exercise, including Pelosi’s rejection of two Trump-allied Republicans that were nominated by then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

One of those allies, Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., is one of the co-sponsors of Burlison’s resolution.