The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot issued subpoenas to a spokesman for former President Donald Trump, Republican political operative Roger Stone and conspiracy monger Alex Jones, as well as two other people allegedly connected to that day’s events
Taylor Budowich, the Trump spokesman, reportedly helped advertise the rally outside of the White House where the then-president spoke right before the riot, in which hundreds of his supporters broke into the Capitol.
Stone originally had been slated to speak at that event, and the Infowars host Jones reportedly was involved in organizing the rally, the committee said in a press release Monday evening.
The other people newly issued subpoenas by the House panel are Dustin Stockton and Jennifer Lawrence, a couple who reportedly organized multiple post-election rallies that pushed the false narrative that the 2020 election was rigged against Trump.
The House panel says the five new subpoena recipients who have been asked for testimony and documents are believed to have knowledge of the plans and funding for the rallies in Washington on Jan. 6 that preceded the storming of the Capitol.
“We believe the witnesses we subpoenaed today have relevant information and we expect them to cooperate fully with our effort to get answers for the American people about the violence of January 6th,” select committee chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in the press release.
In a statement posted to his website, Stone said he has not yet been served the subpoena and has not seen the details of what the committee wants him to provide to the probe.
“I have said time and time again that I had no advance knowledge of the events that took place at the Capitol on that day,” Stone’s statement said. “After the subpoena is served and after my counsel reviews the requests, I will make the determination of how I will proceed.”
Responding to a request for comment, Stone, a self-proclaimed “dirty trickster,” told CNBC: “Sorry I only respond to inquiries from legitimate news reporters. You don’t qualify.”
Jones’ lawyer Norman Pattis told NBC News in a statement that “the First Amendment guarantees the right of assembly and the right to petition for redress of grievances. Congress’s attempt to chill ordinary Americans in the exercise of these rights is terrifying.”
“We will be in touch with Committee staff to determine what our next steps will be,” Pattis said.
Stockton and Lawrence in a statement said, “We aren’t surprised by that the committee issued us subpoenas and have been expecting them. We are concerned that the timing during the week of Thanksgiving, while most normal business is closed, is further demonstration that this committee is not acting in good faith.”
“In the many months since January 6th we have granted many reporters and outlets extensive on-the-record interviews because we are committed to getting to the truth about what happened,” the couple said. “We remain committed to that transparency and pray for the opportunity to share our experiences to the public without the taint of misinformation that has become customary.”
Alex Jones, the founder of right-wing media group Infowars, addresses a crowd of pro-Trump protesters after they storm the grounds of the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Jon Cherry | Getty Images
The bipartisan House panel is tasked with investigating the facts and circumstances surrounding the Capitol invasion, when Trump’s supporters temporarily blocked Congress from confirming President Joe Biden‘s Electoral College victory.
The committee has sought the cooperation of dozens of witnesses and has subpoenaed a growing list of Trump’s current and former allies and associates.
The panel referred Steve Bannon, Trump’s former senior White House advisor, for contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with its subpoena to him.
Bannon’s attorney based his noncompliance on Trump’s claims of executive privilege over the information requested by the panel. The full House later voted to hold Bannon in contempt, and a federal grand jury on Nov. 12 indicted him on two counts of contempt of Congress.
