JUST IN: Lawyers for former President Donald Trump have accepted service of the subpoena from the House January 6 select committee, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Trump and his lawyers have until November to 4 to turn over documents sought in the subpoena and until November 14 to testify at a deposition.Trump has criticized the committee but not said whether he would comply with the subpoena. He did recently share a Fox News story on Truth Social that claimed he "loves the idea of testifying." But Trump also could fight the subpoena in court in what would likely be a lengthy legal battle that could outlast the committee.
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who serves as vice chairwoman of the panel, said at a recent Harvard event she assumes Trump will fulfill his legal obligation and honor the committee's subpoena, "but if that doesn't happen, then we'll take the steps we need to take after that, but I don't want to go too far down that path at this point."
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat who serves on the committee, was asked last week if she and her colleagues are open to the former President testifying before the panel. She told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" that it's "subject to negotiation," but reiterated that Trump must respond to the subpoena first.
It said Trump "purposely and maliciously" disseminated false claims that the 2020 election was stolen in order to help his plan to overturn the election and to solicit contributions. The committee painted Trump as "orchestrating and overseeing" the effort to obtain false state electors.