January 6 Committee Subpoenas Ex-White House Lawyer Pat Cipollone to Testify

Reports suggest that the committee has long been long considering Cippolone a key behind-the-scenes actor of the previous administration and an important witness; however, he refused to talk with the legislators following a closed-door "informal interview" back in April.

The January 6 committee subpoenaed ex-President Trump's top lawyer Pat Cipollone on Wednesday.

According to media reports, the counselor - who was a lead defender of Trump during his first impeachment trial - was one of the presidential team members who opposed the efforts to challenge the outcome of the 2020 elections by the 45th, and even threatened to resign at one point as tensions escalated.

According to White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, the lawyer warned Trump before the January 6 events that there would be grave concerns if he goes to the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the elections, saying that "we're going to get charged with every crime imaginable."

FILE - White House counsel Pat Cipollone departs the U.S. Capitol following defense arguments in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020

© AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite

She also said he had a dispute with then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows regarding the rioters.

"I remember Pat saying to him something to the effect of, 'the rioters have gotten to the Capitol. We need to go down and see the President now'," Hutchinson said in a videotaped testimony. "And Mark looked up at him and said, 'He doesn't want to do anything, Pat'," she said.

The committee, which includes seven Democrats and two Republicans, was formed to investigate the events of January 6, 2021, when a crowd of protesters forced their way into the Capitol building, prompting the evacuation of lawmakers.

Following the clashes, Democrats accused Trump of "incitement of insurrection" and tried to impeach him, but the motion failed to gain enough support in the Senate.

The lawmakers alleged there was a "multi-pronged conspiracy" to overturn the 2020 election results by Trump, despite the fact that he called on his supporters, via his now-suspended Twitter account, "to stay peaceful" and "go home" and later condemned the violence.

The ex-president repeatedly slammed the accusations and criticized the work of the committee, calling it yet another instance of a witch-hunt against him.