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The
House committee investigating the attack of Jan. 6, 2021 had
unanimously issued a subpoena for the Republican former
president to appear on or about Nov. 14.
Lawmakers had also extended through this week their initial Nov.
4 deadline for Trump to turn over any related documentation.
Representatives for the panel could not be immediately reached
for comment on the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for
the southern district of Florida in West Palm Beach.
The subpoena infringes Trump's constitutional right to free
speech, his lawyers said in the 41-page filing that called the
investigation a "quasi-criminal inquest," and adding that the
panel lacked the authority to compel testimony.
They also said the panel had not responded to Trump's
alternative offer to respond in writing to specific questions.
In a Nov. 9 letter to the panel attached to the lawsuit, Trump's
attorneys said he would "consider" whether providing written
responses "would be appropriate."
The letter said Trump "voluntarily directed a reasonable search
for documents in his possession" but it "found no documents
responsive to this request."
The committee has held a series of hearings as it seeks to make
its case to the public that Trump was largely responsible for
the deadly assault on Congress while lawmakers met to formally
declare his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
The panel has not said how it will proceed if Trump disregards
the subpoena request.
The committee, set to dissolve when the current Congress ends,
could be reconstituted in some form depending on which party
controls the House when its next term starts in January, an
outcome hingeing on the vote count in Tuesday's midterm
election.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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