A committee looking into the US Capitol insurgency has subpoenaed five more people, including former President Donald Trump’s ally Roger Stone and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The subpoenas issued on Monday (local time) include requests for documents and testimony from Mr. Stone and Mr. Jones, as well as three people accused of organizing and promoting the two January 6 rallies.
“The Select Committee is seeking information about the rallies and subsequent march to the Capitol that escalated into a violent mob attacking the Capitol and threatening our democracy,” Mississippi Representative Bennie Thompson, the Democratic chairman of the panel, said.
“We need to know who organized, planned, paid for, and received funds related to those events, as well as what communications organizers had with officials in the White House and Congress.”
In special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, Mr. Stone was convicted of lying to Congress about his efforts to gather inside information about Russia-hacked Democratic emails published by WikiLeaks in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. Mr. Trump subsequently pardoned him.
According to the House subpoena, Mr. Stone spoke at rallies the day before the Capitol insurgency and employed members of a far-right group, the Oath Keepers, as personal security guards while in Washington.
The House panel also wanted to hear from Mr. Jones, according to Mr. Thompson, who claimed that the conspiracy theorist and talk-show host helped organize the rally at the Ellipse prior to the rebel movement.
According to Mr. Thompson’s letter, Mr. Jones repeatedly promoted Mr. Trump’s claims of election fraud, urged his listeners to attend the rally, and marched from the Ellipse to the Capitol.
Dustin Stockton, Jennifer Lawrence, and Taylor Budowich were issued subpoenas for their alleged involvement in the promotion and organization of a series of rallies following the 2020 presidential election that promoted false information about election results, including the Ellipse rally that preceded the violent attack on the Capitol.
The election’s results were confirmed by state officials and upheld by the courts. Mr. Trump’s own attorney-general, William Barr, stated that the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread fraud that could have resulted in the results being overturned.
The committee is seeking information from Mr. Stockton and his fiancee, Ms. Lawrence, who are said to have been involved in the entire organization of some of the rallies.
According to the committee, Mr. Stockton was concerned enough about the Ellipse rally that he escalated his concerns to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
The panel has already demanded documents and testimony from several other Mr. Trump advisers, with some cooperating and others not. Steve Bannon, a longtime Trump ally, was indicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress on November 12 after he refused to comply with a House committee subpoena.
The subpoenas issued on Monday are the latest in a wide net cast by the House panel in an effort to investigate the deadly day when a group of Mr. Trump’s supporters, fueled by his false claims of a stolen election, brutally assaulted police and smashed their way into the Capitol to disrupt Democrat Joe Biden’s victory certification.
The committee has already interviewed more than 150 people from government, social media, and law enforcement, including some cooperating former Trump aides.
More than 20 witnesses have been summoned by the panel. Most of them, including several associates who helped plan the massive “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6th, have indicated their willingness to cooperate.
