The House committee looking into the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is asking for all documents and communications from Donald Trump‘s White House from the day of the riot.
The committee is asking for “all documents and communications within the White House on January 6, 2021” related to Trump’s close advisers and family members. It is also asking for information about a rally held that day and Trump’s own Twitter feed. It additionally asks for Trump’s specific movements on that day and any communications, if they exist, from the White House Situation Room.
The committee is also seeking all documents related to election fraud claims and Supreme Court decisions on the topic.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
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The committee is demanding a host of records from Donald Trump’s White House and several of his administration’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies, in what is a sweeping start to lawmakers’ review of the deadly attack by a mob of the then-president’s supporters.
The request made on Wednesday seeks records about events leading up to the January 6 riot, including communication within the White House and other agencies, and information about planning and funding for rallies held in Washington. Among them is an event at the Ellipse, near the White House, featuring remarks by Trump before thousands of loyalists stormed the Capitol.
The demands are being made for White House records from the National Archives, along with material from the departments of Defense, Justice, Homeland Security and Interior, as well as the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The requests are just the beginning of what is expected to be a lengthy partisan and rancorous investigation into how the thousands of Trump supporters were able to infiltrate the Capitol and disrupt the certification of Democrat Joe Biden‘s presidential victory.
Committee members are also seeking records from lawmakers to try to determine who knew what about the unfolding riot and when they knew it. The mob sent members of Congress running for their lives and did more than $1 million in damage and wounded dozens of police officers who were not prepared for the riot.
The committee is also seeking information about efforts within the Trump administration to push the president’s baseless claims of election fraud and any efforts to try to overturn the results of November’s election or to “impede the peaceful transfer of power.”
The request for the National Archives and Records Administration is 10 pages long.
Representative Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is heading the committee, appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after all but two Republicans opposed the creation of the 13-person panel.
Most in the GOP argued that the majority-Democratic panel would conduct a partisan inquiry. House Democrats originally attempted to create an evenly split, independent commission to investigate the insurrection, but that effort fell short when it was blocked by Senate Republicans.
Jacquelyn Martin, File/AP Photo
