capitol riot aftermath
Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell subpoenaed by House Jan. 6 committee
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack issued subpoenas on Tuesday to Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, and Boris Epshteyn, all public defenders of former President Donald Trump's voter fraud claims after the 2020 presidential election.
In the weeks leading up to President Biden's inauguration, Trump's lawyers pushed the false claim that there was widespread voter fraud, filing lawsuits in states where Trump lost in an attempt to overturn election results; all of their claims were rejected by the courts.
In a statement, the Jan. 6 committee's chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), said the "four individuals we've subpoenaed today advanced unsupported theories about election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results, or were in direct contact with the former president about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes."
The committee is asking Giuliani to provide testimony and turn over records in connection with his alleged efforts to sway state legislators into overturning election results and his promotion of Trump's election fraud claims, The Associated Press reports.
Giuliani, Powell, and Ellis regularly held press conferences where they repeated false claims of election fraud, and the panel said it would also like to speak with Ellis about a memo she prepared and distributed regarding the constitutional authority then-Vice President Mike Pence would have had to reject electoral votes from states that submitted alternate slates of electors.
Epshteyn served as one of Trump's campaign strategic advisers, and was reportedly at meetings held at the Willard Hotel prior to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. The panel also said Epshteyn spoke with Trump on Jan. 6 to discuss ways to delay the certification of election results, should Pence not hold up the process.