January 6 committee subpoenas Trump-backed congressional candidate

By Zachary Cohen, Annie Grayer, Ryan Nobles and Whitney Wild, CNN

The House select committee investigating the January 6 riot at the US Capitol issued six additional subpoenas Friday, including one to former aide to former President Donald Trump and current Ohio congressional candidate Max Miller.

The targets in this subpoena group were involved in the planning of the rallies on January 5 and 6 leading up to the violent attack, and the group includes individuals who coordinated the rally planning directly with Trump.

The other subpoena recipients include:

• Robert “Bobby” Peede Jr. and Miller met with Trump in his private dining room off of the Oval Office on January 4 to discuss the January 6 rally on the Ellipse and who would be speaking, according to information and documents provided to the panel. The committee also mentions that rally organizer Katrina Pierson, a former Trump campaign official reportedly involved in the organization of the January 5 and January 6 rallies who served as a liaison between rally organizers and the White House and has also been subpoenaed, was in this meeting as well. This is the first revelation by the committee that draws a direct connection between rally organizers and Trump.

• Brian Jack, the director of political affairs for Trump, reached out to several members of Congress on behalf of Trump to ask them to speak at the rally on January 6 at the Ellipse, according to the committee. In its subpoena letter, the committee states that Jack was responsible for reaching out to GOP Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, who accepted the invitation and spoke at the January 6 rally.

• Bryan Lewis had a rally permit for outside the US Capitol on January 6, and whose purpose was to urge Congress to invalidate electoral votes, the committee said. In its subpoena letter to Lewis, the committee says that the “multiple applicants” for event permits “coordinated their efforts to arrange for separate locations at the Capitol,” based on documents they have on file.

• Ed Martin, an organizer with the “Stop the Steal” movement, was involved in the financing of the January 6 rally on the Ellipse that occurred directly before the attack on the Capitol. The committee cites documents it has on file to support the claim that Martin was specifically responsible for the logistical planning and paying of vendors for a “Stop the Steal Event” entitled “Wild Protest.”

• Kimberly Fletcher, who is tied to an organization entitled “Moms for America,” helped organize the January 5 rally at Freedom Plaza and the January 6 rally at the Ellipse. The committee writes in its subpoena letter that Fletcher was in communication with “Stop the Steal” rally organizer Ali Alexander, who just went in for his deposition, to coordinate rally permitting around January 6. Referencing a press report, the committee states that Fletcher was contacted by law enforcement after January 6 and acknowledged knowing that Alexander and his organization “Stop the Steal,” used false names on their rally permits.

“Some of the witnesses we subpoenaed today apparently worked to stage the rallies on January 5th and 6th, and some appeared to have had direct communication with the former President regarding the rally at the Ellipse directly preceding the attack on the U.S. Capitol,” Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, who chairs the panel, said in a statement.

All six individuals are required to turn over documents to the committee on December 23, with depositions scheduled throughout the beginning of January.

On Thursday, Miller took to Twitter to say he would accept the subpoena. But he also railed against the committee’s investigation, pledging that one of his first acts as a member of the House would be to help disband the panel.

“Upon taking office, I will make sure one of my first votes is to disband this partisan committee that has weaponized its powers against innocent Americans,” Miller, who has been endorsed by Trump, tweeted. “I will accept service of this subpoena but I will defend my rights just as I will defend the rights on my constituents when elected.”

This latest batch of subpoenas from the committee comes as it has already issued dozens of subpoenas to individuals involved in the rally planning and financing that directly preceded the violent attack on the Capitol.

This story has been updated with additional information Friday.

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