Trump’s campaign of obstruction, which has now reached the Supreme Court, raises questions about whether the panel, already facing a racing clock ahead of next year’s midterms, will fulfill its goal of a historic accounting of his efforts to overturn the election. Trump’s inner circle is locked into a strategy of preventing a comprehensive reckoning over one of the most notorious days ever in the United States and seeking to whitewash history as he readies an apparent new run for the White House.
The panel’s attempt to reach deep into Trump world and behind the scenes in the West Wing on January 6 kicked into higher gear in the days before Christmas, offering new insight into its areas of focus. Trump responded by stepping up his own strategy of defying the truth. It is now clear committee members are trying to build a detailed picture of exactly what Trump said, did and thought in the days leading up to the insurrection and in the hours when it raged on Capitol Hill after he incited the mob with fresh election fraud lies.
For the first time, the panel publicly called for testimony from lawmakers closely bound up in Trump’s effort to discredit the 2020 election and cling to power. It asked Rep. Scott Perry to talk about his effort to install Jeffrey Clark, an official who wanted the Justice Department to pursue Trump’s lies about electoral fraud as attorney general. The Pennsylvania Republican declined, arguing the panel was illegally constituted — even though it was created by a vote in the full House. The committee also asked another Trump crony, Rep. Jim Jordan, to discuss what it says are his multiple communications with the ex-President on January 6. The Ohio Republican has yet to respond, but his loyalty to Trump and fierce attacks on the committee suggest he’s unlikely to be a cooperative witness.
Committee members could soon face the decision of whether to subpoena Perry and Jordan, a move that would be certain to further worsen incendiary relations…
Source : cnn
