'No one is off the table': Adam Schiff vows that Capitol riot committee subpoenas are just getting started

  •  Representative Adam Schiff warned that more subpoenas may be coming as the House Select Committee on the January 6 Capitol riot continues its investigation
  • In an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo on Thursday night, Schiff, a Democrat from California said 'No one is off the table'
  • He said: 'We're going to find out who was involved and who was knowledgeable and what roles they played in the planning'
  • The remarks come after the select committee issued its first four subpoenas  
  • One went to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who joined Trump's efforts to push state election officials
  • Dan Scavino is a longtime Trump aide and White House digital director
  • Kash Patel was chief of staff at the Pentagon; an aborted effort reportedly sought to install him at the CIA days before Trump was to leave office
  • Steve Bannon served as chief White House strategist, had a break with Trump, and then was reportedly back in his orbit as Inauguration Day approached 
  • Trump mocked the panel as the 'Unselect Committee' 
  • He vowed to fight on 'Executive Privilege and other grounds'

After issuing four subpoenas to former Trump allies on Thursday, Representative Adam Schiff warned that more may be coming down the line as the House Select Committee on the January 6 Capitol riot continues its investigation.

'No one is off the table,' he said in an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo Thursday night. 

'We'll determine what went wrong in the lead-up to January 6, and we're going to find out who was involved and who was knowledgeable and what roles they played in the planning, what expectation they had of violence, and what the former president was doing.

'Among the biggest unknowns is what was going on within the White House on January 5 and 6, at that critical time when our democracy was being threatened with a violent insurrection,' he continued.

'So we're not wasting time,' Schiff, a Democrat from California said. 'We've made a lot of strides in requiring documents that we need for the investigation.'

Representative Adam Schiff warned that more subpoenas may be coming in the House Select Committee on the January 6 Capitol riot's investigation in an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo Thursday night

The stark warning came after the House Select Committee issued its first round of subpoenas targeting former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, longtime Trump and White House aide Dan Scavino, and former Pentagon chief of staff Kash Patel.

'These are four important witnesses, and they're all very close to the former president and some were in direct communication with him on January 5, on January 6, and they are reportedly in communication about how to overturn their results of the election,' Schiff, a member of the committee, told Cuomo in the interview.

'Mark Meadows, for example, is involved with the Justice Department to put pressure on Georgia, to decertify the results of the election,' he continued.

'There are numerable areas that we want to question these witnesses about and these are four early witnesses that we want to hear from, that will hep us direct our focus on others as well.'

Cuomo later asked the congressman whether he expects they will actually testify, or if they will claim they have immunity, to which Schiff replied: 'If past is prologue, we can certainly anticipate that some may seek to thwart our investigation, and certainly if you look at all of the obstruction and all of the stonewalling of the subpoenas by some of the same people in the prior administration ... we experienced that kind of stonewalling before.'

'But unlike the last four years, these witnesses are not going to be able to count on the former president to protect them if they essentially thwart the law, and I would hope that we can move expeditiously to enforce the subpoenas.'

If it is necessary, he said, the committee would ask the Justice Department to consider charging 'anyone who ignores the law' with potential criminal contempt/

'We will do whatever we can to overcome any obstructionism.' 

Former President Trump vowed to fight on 'Executive Privilege and other grounds,' indicating the committee may have to wage a legal battle to secure testimony and information as it probes the Jan. 6th riot on the day Congress met to count the Electoral College votes.

The House select committee on the Capitol riot has already subpoenaed former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Director of Social Media and Assistant to the President Dan Scavino

The House select committee on the Capitol riot has already subpoenaed former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Director of Social Media and Assistant to the President Dan Scavino

The committee has already sent out sweeping document requests to the National Archives as well as other government agencies seeking information on a host of former officials. Its aides have been poring over government documents and those sought from social media companies.

The letter to Bannon identifies him as having been present at the Willard Hotel on Jan. 5th, 2021 – and cites Bob Woodward and Robert Costa's new book, Peril.

'You have been identified as present at the Willard Hotel on January 5, 2021, during an effort to persuade Members of Congress to block the certification of the election the next day, and in relation to other activities on January 6,' it says. 

'You are also described as communicating with then-President Trump on Dec. 30, 2020, and potentially other occasions, urging him to plan for and focus his efforts on Jan. 6.' it says.

It also quotes Bannon saying on Jan. 5th that 'all hell is going to break loose tomorrow.' 

Former President Trump blasted the subpoenas in a statement from his Save America PAC, mocking the panel the 'Unselect Committee.'

'The “Unselect Committee” of highly partisan politicians, a similar group that perpetrated the now proven lie of Russia, Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, and many other Scams, has sent out Harassment Subpoenas on Jan. 6th so that the Government of the United States can continue wasting time while Russia, China, and virtually every other country that deals with our Nation can continue to “eat our lunch,” and laugh at the stupidity of what is going on at our Southern Border, and the worst withdrawal from a war zone by any Nation in history—all of this while the Democrats persecute and prosecute Republicans which is, together with Rigging Elections, essentially all they know how to do,' Trump wrote.

'We will fight the Subpoenas on Executive Privilege and other grounds, for the good of our Country, while we wait to find out whether or not Subpoenas will be sent out to Antifa and BLM for the death and destruction they have caused in tearing apart our Democrat-run cities throughout America,' Trump vowed.

Trump then renewed his repeated claims of election fraud – and claimed 'hundreds of thousands' of people protested the elections, although media reports stated only that thousands attended events in November and January.

 'Hopefully the Unselect Committee will be calling witnesses on the Rigged Presidential Election of 2020, which is the primary reason that hundreds of thousands of people went to Washington, D.C. in the first place. Let the people of the United States see the real facts, which cannot happen because the Fake News refuses to write about them. The Witch Hunt will never end! In the meantime, the Democrats get away with the Russia Scam, and all of the other corruption they have perpetrated on our Country for so many years. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'

The committee notes that Scavino, Trump's former golf caddy who rose to become a close aide who managed Trump's Twitter account, was with Trump during key moments.

The subpoena  letter to Bannon identifies him as having been present at the Willard Hotel on Jan. 5th, 2021

The subpoena  letter to Bannon identifies him as having been present at the Willard Hotel on Jan. 5th, 2021

Trump loyalist Kash Patel became chief of staff to the secretary of defense. The subpoena cites a press report of an effort to install him at the CIA in the last days of the administration

Trump loyalist Kash Patel became chief of staff to the secretary of defense. The subpoena cites a press report of an effort to install him at the CIA in the last days of the administration

In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo with the White House in the background, President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Washington

In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo with the White House in the background, President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Washington

 'Reporting indicates that former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Daniel Scavino was with the former President on January 5th during a discussion of how to convince Members of Congress not to certify the election for Joe Biden,' according to the committee. 'Prior to the January 6th March for Trump, Mr. Scavino promoted the event on Twitter, encouraging people to “be a part of history."'

The inclusion of Patel indicates the panel's interest in lines of inquiry about a host of high level staff changes in the final months and weeks of the Trump administration.

It cites reports that Trump 'attempted to install Mr. Patel as Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in early December, but that planned appointment was abandoned after then-CIA Director Gina Haspel threatened to resign.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chairs the select committee, signed the subpoena letters

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chairs the select committee, signed the subpoena letters

The subpoena letters cite times aides were in contact with Trump on or around Jan. 6th

The subpoena letters cite times aides were in contact with Trump on or around Jan. 6th

Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper days after the election, then installed Chris Miller as acting Pentagon chief, only to bring on Patel, a Trump loyalist, as chief of staff. Patel was installed on Nov. 10th, a week after the Nov. 3 election.

According to an Axios report in January, Haspel balked at having Patel brought on the CIA, and the effort was halted only after interventions by Vice President Mike Pence and White House counsel Pat Cipollone. 

Patel previously served as an aide to GOP Rep. Devin Nunes of California, who furiously defended Trump amid the Russia probe. 

The subpoenas call on the four men to sit for depositions October 14 and October 15. 

The Meadows letter says it appears he was within the 'vicinity' of Trump on Jan. 6, and had communications with Trump and others 'regarding the events at the Capitol' and 'are a witness concerning events that day.' 

It also cites documents already obtained from the Justice Department, and states that 'while you were the President’s Chief of Staff, you directly communicated with the highest officials at the Department of Justice requesting investigations into election fraud matters in several states.' 

All the letters were signed by panel chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). The House created the committee after talks broke down over creating an independent commission.

The House gave the committee subpoena power. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi clashed with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy over his appointments to the committee, ultimately naming GOP Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) herself.

Bannon said on his podcast that he spoke with Trump before the rally about how to 'kill the Biden presidency in the crib.'

Costa had referenced the Willard meeting in a media interview and said Bannon had told Trump about killing the Biden presidency in the crib.  

'Yeah, because his legitimacy,' Bannon added on his broadcast after playing the clip. 'Forty-two per cent of the American people think that Biden did not win the presidency legitimately.'

The Scavino letter says the panel has reason to believe he holds information about Trump's 'communications strategy' leading up to the riot, and cites the same Willard meeting.

It says it may have materials as to his videotaping and tweeting materials on Jan. 6th.

It cites Scavino's own tweet as evidence he was tweeting from the White House on Jan. 6th. 

The efforts to claw information from Scavino and Meadows in particular are certain to draw claims of executive privilege should they mount an effort to resist the subpoenas. 

Scavino remained as a communications advisor to Trump in his taxpayer-funded post-presidential office. 

Trump late last month already threatened to invoke the privilege – just as he ordered officials to resist congressional probes and went to court while he was in office.

'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,' Trump said in the statement.

The White House plans to err on the side of disclosure and cooperate with document requests by the Select Committee, the Washington Post reported Thursday.  

Adam Schiff vows that Capitol riot committee subpoenas are just getting started 

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