The panel has been ramping up the pressure, believing his testimony about former president Donald Trump could be explosive
The decision followed extensive negotiations between Cipollone and the committee, as well as sharply escalating pressure on him in recent days to come forward and testify. Committee members have come to believe that the former counsel’s testimony could be critical to their investigation, given his proximity to Donald Trump and presence during key moments before, during and after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The subpoena is likely to trigger a lengthy legal battle.
The committee is hoping that soon changes. Cheney, in particular, has been determined to secure Cipollone’s cooperation — so far without luck. “He can probably give the best overview of how [former White House chief of staff Mark] Meadows, [former Trump lawyer Rudy] Giuliani and Trump were told what they were doing might be illegal,” said a person involved with the investigation.Cheney has repeatedly told others that securing the lawyer’s appearance would be a big win for the committee. But two committee advisers said they feared his appearance will never materialize.
“They are at a midpoint of the hearings and they don’t have a lot of time left, and so they need to raise the temperature,” said Norm Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and counsel to House Democrats during Trump’s first impeachment. “Based on the committee’s public articulation of strong encouragement for Pat to come forward, they have seemingly tried every measure short of a subpoena and he has refused to cooperate.
“Him and the team were always saying, ‘Oh, we’re going to resign,’” Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser, told investigators of Cipollone’s response to Trump’s potentially illegal activity, according to a taped deposition played in public by the committee. “'We’re not going to be here if this happens, if that happens.' So I kind of took it up to just be whining, to be honest with you.
A second person said Cipollone is still a devoted Republican and believes that Democrats in the House had repeatedly overreached in their investigations of Trump.“I think that for the institution and the presidency, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham . “The 9/11 Commission worked a different way. This is a stacked deck if there was ever one. They bring this lady out, drop what appears to be a bombshell; they haven’t done their due diligence.
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