WASHINGTON — Donald Trump wouldn’t be permitted to appear live on television before the Jan. 6 committee, which has subpoenaed him to testify on his role in last year’s attack on the U.S. Capitol, Rep. Liz Cheney said.
“He’s not going to turn this into a circus,” Cheney, a Wyoming Republican and the committee’s vice chair, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “This is a far too serious set of issues.”
The committee issued the subpoena last week, also demanding extensive records of the former president’s communications during the election fight. Trump issued a 14-page response that didn’t say whether he’d comply. The New York Times reported that he has told aides that he favors testifying but only if it appeared on live television.
Cheney quashed that, saying Trump’s testimony would “be done with a level of rigor and seriousness that it deserves,” possibly over “multiple days.” The subpoena directs Trump to provide documents by Nov. 4.
A Monmouth University poll released last week concluded that most Americans favor forcing Trump to testify before the House committee, and they want the questioning to be conducted in public view.
The subpoena faces challenges both practical and legal, specifically largely untested questions about immunity for presidents in and out of office. More immediately, the committee’s work expires at the end of the congressional term and Republicans have said they won’t extend its mandate if they regain control of the House in the midterm elections on Nov. 8.
“If we were in a nation where our politics were operating the way they should, the investigation would proceed no matter what,” Cheney said. “I think that the Republicans have made very clear that they’re not interested in getting to the bottom of what happened or holding people to account.”
