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The Jan. 6 committee votes unanimously to subpoena Trump

The U.S. House Select Committee members voted on Thursday to subpoena former President Donald Trump to testify as part of its investigation.
Mandel Ngan
/
Pool/AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. House Select Committee members voted on Thursday to subpoena former President Donald Trump to testify as part of its investigation.

Updated October 13, 2022 at 4:21 PM ET

The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack closed its hearing on Thursday by taking a vote on whether to subpoena former President Donald Trump to testify before them.

The vote passed unanimously, with all nine members — including both Republicans — in favor.

Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., read out the motion, describing Trump's testimony as an obligation — given that more than 30 witnesses in the investigation invoked the Fifth Amendment in answer to the committee's questions about Trump, including key Trump allies Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, and John Eastman.

"We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion," she said. "And every American is entitled to those answers, so we can act now to protect our republic."

Presidential subpoenas aren't unprecedented, but committee members wonder if Trump will testify. Trump has dodged a subpoena before in an unrelated case earlier this year. In April, a New York judge held Trump in contempt of court after he did not comply with a state attorney general's civil subpoena for documents as part of an investigation into Trump's business practices.

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Rachel Treisman (she/her) is a writer and editor for the Morning Edition live blog, which she helped launch in early 2021.
Emily Olson
Emily Olson is on a three-month assignment as a news writer and live blog editor, helping shape NPR's digital breaking news strategy.