The House select committee charged with investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol demanded on Wednesday records of the communications related to the assault between federal officials and a host of Trump staffers and allies, including some family members.
In letters to eight federal agencies, including the Justice and Defense Departments, the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the chairman of the bipartisan select committee investigating the riot, requested a trove of specific communications. Thompson set a Sept. 9 deadline for the records and warned that any refusal to produce them will be met with subpoenas.
The letters come nearly eight months after the attack, in which hundreds of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to interrupt the counting of electoral votes solidifying Joe Biden’s victory. The wide-ranging requests provide a window into the broad and comprehensive way the select committee appears to be investigating the Jan. 6 attack, as well as the run-up to and aftermath of it.
Among Thompson’s demands were several to the National Archives and Records Administration for documents and communications received, prepared or sent between Dec. 1, 2020 and Jan. 20, 2021, regarding the Jan. 6 count of the Electoral College vote and the potential for demonstrations, violence or attacks on or around Jan. 6.
That included, Thompson wrote, all documents and communications “relating in any way” to remarks by then-President Donald Trump, and all other speakers, made at the Jan. 6 demonstrations, as well as all calendars, schedules and logs that tracked meetings and events held by Trump and by then-Vice President Mike Pence.
Notably, Thompson also demanded all documents and communications within the White House on Jan. 6 at all involving or related to more than 30 individuals, such as members of the Trump family, members of the Trump administration and close personal confidantes of Trump. The request named Rudy Giuliani, a personal lawyer for Trump; Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff; White House Counsel Pat Cipollone; National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien; Trump’s eldest three children, Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.; first lady Melania Trump; former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
Thompson also asked the National Archives for all White House visitors and call logs from Jan. 6.
“The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol is examining the facts, circumstances, and causes of the January 6th attack. Our Constitution provides for a peaceful transfer of power, and this investigation seeks to evaluate threats to that process, identify lessons learned and recommend laws, policies, procedures, rules, or regulations necessary to protect our republic in the future,” Thompson wrote in a statement accompanying the records requests.
The National Archives is tasked with preserving executive office records and communications after a president leaves office. Many such records are generally made public in stages, over decades, based on the sensitivity of the information.
In his letter to the National Archives, Thompson also sought records and communications between White House officials and state government officials in states where the 2020 election results were close, including Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
Letters from Thompson to the seven other agencies demanded records dealing with a range of matters related to the Jan. 6 attacks, including the gathering and dissemination of intelligence in advance of the attack and security preparations around the U.S. Capitol ahead of Jan. 6.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
