The US House has decided to subpoena Trump in a Capitol Hill investigation

On January 6, 2021, the US House of Representatives investigating the attack on the nation’s capital by Donald Trump supporters voted on Thursday to issue a subpoena to the former president, which could lead to criminal charges if he decides to do so.

The House Select Committee’s seven Democratic and two Republican members voted 9-0 in favor of subpoenaing Trump for documents and sworn testimony about the January 6 invasion.

“He needs to be held accountable. He needs to answer for his actions. He needs to answer to the police officers who risk their lives and bodies to protect our democracy. He needs to answer to the millions of Americans who voted for him. It’s part of his plan to stay in power,” said Democratic Rep. Penny, the committee’s chairman. Thompson said.

Trump representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The vote came after the committee argued for more than two hours through member statements, documents and taped testimony that Trump planned ahead of time and did not stop thousands of supporters from besieging the Capitol to deny his defeat in the 2020 election. With his false claims that the election was stolen, even when close advisers said he had lost.

Failure to comply with a congressional subpoena for testimony or documents is a misdemeanor, punishable by one to 12 months in prison, federal law says. If the select committee’s subpoena is ignored, the House floor will vote on whether to issue a referral to the Judiciary, which has the power to decide whether to press charges.

Steve Bannon, a former Trump aide, is set to be sentenced next week after a jury found him in contempt of Congress on charges of failing to comply with a panel’s subpoena. But the Justice Department declined to indict another, Mark Meadows, who the House recommended should be prosecuted.

Federal prosecutors are investigating the ex-president’s removal of classified documents from the White House near the end of his term, and have warned they believe they have yet to recover all of the documents taken.

A House committee spent more than a year investigating the attack on Capitol Hill and interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses. The raid left more than 140 police officers injured and many more dead.