The first subpoenas from the January 6 Select Committee could be issued as soon as next week, according to reports, and there’s already speculation about what names will be on those calls for testimony regarding what took place on that fateful day seven months ago.
But will failed, one-term former President Donald Trump be one of those who is issued a subpoena? He certainly knows many of the details that could help investigators better understand what transpired when thousands of his supporters stormed the Capitol, rioting and looting parts of the building, resulting in the deaths of five people.
Rep. Zoe Lofrgren (D-CA), a member of the select committee, was asked about the possibility of having Trump testify by CNN’s Jim Acosta on Sunday. She responded:
“Well, I don’t think it’s necessarily appropriate for the individual members of the committee to be identifying who is going to get a subpoena. I will say this that we intend to follow every lead so that we get a complete picture of what the intent was of the former president who organized these efforts, who funded these efforts as part of our investigation of the ramp-up to the January 6th riot, the insurrection.”
Acosta pressed further, wondering if it would be helpful to know what the president knew and when he knew it. Lofrgren told him:
“Well, maybe yes, maybe no. Certainly, we can find out a lot of information from those he spoke to. You have to balance, as you’re looking at calling witnesses, how difficult it is. How litigious they will be versus the information you’re likely to receive. I’ll say, I don’t think it’s a new piece of information that the former president has a veracity problem. The Washington Post and other news institutions used to tote up how many lies per day he would say. So, we’ve got to weigh that as a factor of how valuable his testimony would be.”
Acosta:
“In other words, he may lie so much that the testimony may be worthless.”
Lofgren agreed:
“Well, I just think it’s a balancing factor I’m sure he would litigate, and then we need to have a weighing of how truthful his testimony would be given his track record.”
Exactly so. Even if Trump were subpoenaed, he’d probably have his attorneys take the case all the way to the Supreme Court to keep him from having to testify under oath and risk committing perjury. And even if he did agree to show up, nothing he says can be believed, so what good would it do to give him a forum for his conspiracy theories and bullshit?
Even if Trump doesn’t wind up in front of the select committee, he’s going to be spending plenty of time under oath in courts across the country. If he wants to lie under oath, let him do it when the penalty is prison.
