Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit on Friday in an attempt to stop the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack from subpoenaing him, NBC News reported.
The subpoena was previously ordered by the committee in an effort to compel Trump to testify before them, as well as provide documents related to Jan. 6. However, Trump's lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in South Florida, seeks to invalidate the subpoena and stop it from being enforced.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
USA Today reported that there is some historical precedent, noting that former Presidents John Tyler and John Quincy Adams had both been subjected to subpoenas related to a congressional investigation in 1846, and both had cooperated with the order.
Beyond this subpoena, the fact that Trump refuses to cooperate is unique in American history, USA Today noted, as both sitting and former presidents have voluntarily testified before Congress. This includes former President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, former President Woodrow Wilson in 1919, and former President Gerald Ford in 1974. Former Presidents Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Harry Truman additionally all testified after leaving office.
This is the second subpoena from the committee that the former president has fought, previously battling an effort to seize his administration's documents from the National Archives.
-
7 mountain hotels perfect for a tranquil autumn or winter escapeThe Week Recommends Get (altitude) high and unwind
-
‘Deskilling’: a dangerous side effect of AI useThe explainer Workers are increasingly reliant on the new technology
-
The biggest sports betting scandals in historyIn Depth The recent indictments of professional athletes were the latest in a long line of scandals
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
‘Not every social scourge is an act of war’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Pentagon unable to name boat strike casualtiesSpeed Read The Pentagon has so far acknowledged 14 strikes
-
41 political cartoons for October 2025Cartoons Editorial cartoonists take on Donald Trump, ICE, Stephen Miller, the government shutdown, a peace plan in the Middle East, Jeffrey Epstein, and more.
-
Trump limits refugees mostly to white South AfricansSpeed Read The administration is capping the number of refugees at 7,500
-
Judge rules US attorney ‘unlawfully serving’Speed Read Bill Essayli had been serving in the role without Senate confirmation
-
Trump ends Asia trip with Xi meeting, nuke threatSpeed Read Trump had spent the last six days in Asia
-
What does history say about Trump’s moves in Latin America?Today's Big Question ‘Bitter memories’ surface as the US targets Venezuela
