January 6 committee could issue subpoenas this week for top Trump aides including former chief of staff Mark Meadows
- The subpoenas, which could drop as soon as this week, would be the first round calling on Trump's inner circle to testify
- Targets include former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale
- Reports have said Meadows was at the president's side as Trump's supporters breached the Capitol and Scavino is a key target as he managed social media
The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack is eyeing up a fresh list of subpoenas, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale.
The subpoenas, which could drop as soon as this week, according to The Guardian, would be the first round calling on Trump's inner circle to testify and would be the most aggressive action yet.
Last month, the select committee demanded government records from executive branch agencies including the National Archives and Records Administration, the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Interior and Justice, the FBI, National Counterterrorism Center and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
It also requested that telecommunications companies preserve records for the Trump family and Trump-aligned lawmakers, as well as mental health records from the White House.
Reports have said Meadows was at the president's side as Trump's supporters breached the Capitol and Scavino is a key target as he managed social media, Trump's preferred messaging platform.
The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack is eyeing up a fresh list of subpoenas
Former White House social media director Dan Scavino, right, and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows could be hit with subpoenas by the House select committee investigating Jan 6
Former Trump campaign adviser Brad Parscale, above, could also receive a subpoena by the House select committee investigating Jan 6
Parscale was demoted from campaign manager to campaign advisor after Trump's embarrassing Tulsa rally where there were thousands of empty seats last July, but Parscale still staunchly advanced Trump's idea that the election had been rigged.
Congress has the authority to issue subpoenas, though it is not a law enforcement agency and cannot investigate someone to expose wrongdoing or damaging information purely for political purposes- there must be a 'legitimate legislative purpose.'
The full select committee met for the first time on Monday for more than five hours. Much of the work thus far has been investigative, gathering evidence to build a case against criticisms of partisanship.
Trump has called the investigation 'political theatre' and said that executive privilege will stand in the way of such subpoenas.
'Unfortunately, this partisan exercise is being performed at the expense of long-standing legal principles of privilege,' he said in a statement last month. 'Executive privilege will be defended, not just on behalf of my Administration and the Patriots who worked beside me, but on behalf of the Office of the President of the United States and the future of our Nation.'
It's not clear whether claims of executive privilege carry any weight. The Department of Justice ruled in July that Trump officials can testify in congressional probes relating to Jan. 6.
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The head of the panel, Representative Bennie Thompson, has already fired off a series of sweeping demands for information on the last days of the Trump administration – with an effort to use photos, time stamps, and documents to recreate the day minute-by-minute.
Thompson's panel wants White House visitor logs showing who was in the building the day of the 'Stop the Steal' rally that preceded the Capitol riot.
Other requests demand any documents related to the Constitution's 25th Amendment for cases where the cabinet seeks to remove a president for being 'unable' to discharge the duties of the office.
The panel wants the Pentagon to hand over information on the use of the Insurrection Act, communications on 'the establishment of martial law,' and information on 'defying orders from the President.'
The requests also seek out detailed information about personnel changes at the Pentagon in the last weeks of the Trump administration, as Trump installed political loyalists and former Defense chiefs warned the military must stay out of politics.
It also seeks information on extremist groups including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, QAnon, and Three Percenters.
And the committee seeks information on a variety of figures in Trump's orbit or who were connected to Stop the Steal events, including Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, former national security advisor Mike Flynn, and former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, as well as longtime informal Trump advisor Roger Stone.
