(The Hill) — Former President Donald Trump on Friday skirted the question of whether he would testify under subpoena in a 14-page response to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol, instead doubling down on his disproven claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
Trump posted a letter to committee chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) one day after the panel voted unanimously to subpoena him for testimony about his role in the events of Jan. 6, when supporters of the former president stormed the Capitol to halt the certification of the 2020 election results.
“This memo is being written to express our anger, disappointment, and complaint that with all of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on what many consider to be a Charade and Witch Hunt, and despite strong and powerful requests, you have not spent even a short moment on examining the massive Election Fraud that took place during the 2020 Presidential Election, and have targeted only those who were, as concerned American Citizens, protesting the Fraud itself,” Trump wrote in the letter, which is dated Oct. 13.
The document includes numerous photos meant to demonstrate the crowd size at his Jan. 6 rally, as well as a state-by-state breakdown renewing baseless claims of election fraud in five states Trump lost to President Joe Biden.
There was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election – something Trump’s own campaign concluded. Courts on 62 different occasions ruled against Trump when he brought suits seeking to challenge the election based on fraud claims.
Trump’s response is, of course, not a formal compliance with the subpoena, which has yet to be sent after the committee voted unanimously to compel testimony from Trump.
Such documents have to be served, and, in the case of prior subpoenas sent by the Jan. 6 committee, include a list of topics the panel wishes to discuss in a formal deposition as well as a breakdown of documents and other evidence that must be turned over.
In taking the vote in a public setting, lawmakers on the panel stressed the importance of hearing directly from Trump.
“We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion,” said Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the vice chair of the committee, said shortly before the vote. “And every American is entitled to those answers.”