Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | Former U.S. President Donald Trump has released a lengthy response to the Jan. 6 committee’s vote to subpoena him over the Capitol riot.
“This memo is being written to express our anger, disappointment, and complaint,” Trump wrote in a letter to Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House select committee investigating the incident.
The Republican doubled down on his unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was “rigged and stolen” but didn’t say whether he would comply with the subpoena.
The Jan. 6 committee voted Thursday to subpoena Trump for documents and testimony in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“He is required to answer for his actions,” Thompson said in the House panel’s 10th public hearing on Thursday afternoon.
Members of the committee have argued Trump was directly involved in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
On Jan. 6, 2021, thousands of individuals — mostly Trump’s supporters — stormed the Capitol in Washington, D.C., and disrupted a joint session of Congress to affirm the 2020 presidential election results.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is also investigating the mayhem, which led to the injuries of more than 140 police officers and has been linked to at least five deaths.
More than 880 defendants have been arrested in nearly all 50 states and Washington, D.C., according to the DOJ.
The Capitol breach was the worst attack on the U.S. Congress in more than 200 years and led to Trump’s second impeachment by the House of Representatives shortly before his term officially ended.