Jan. 6 Panel Subpoenas Former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chair of the House Jan. 6 panel, delivers closing remarks alongside Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) during the sixth hearing on the Jan. 6 investigation in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington on June 28, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The House select committee investigating the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has subpoenaed former White House Counsel Pasquale “Pat” Cipollone for deposition testimony on Wednesday.

“The Select Committee’s investigation has revealed evidence that Mr. Cipollone repeatedly raised legal and other concerns about President Trump’s activities on January 6th and in the days that preceded,” said the Democrat-led panel’s chair and vice chair, Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), in a joint statement.

“While the Select Committee appreciates Mr. Cipollone’s earlier informal engagement with our investigation, the committee needs to hear from him on the record, as other former White House counsels have done in other congressional investigations.

“Any concerns Mr. Cipollone has about the institutional prerogatives of the office he previously held are clearly outweighed by the need for his testimony.”

The panel seeks to compel Cipollone to appear on July 6, after the former White House counsel informally met with them in April but was not deposed.

In a letter to Cipollone, Thompson said the panel had “credible evidence” that Cipollone had knowledge regarding Trump’s awareness and involvement in certain activities and conspiracies to subvert the 2020 vote certification process (pdf).

Thompson wrote that the panel was “left with no choice” but to subpoena Cipollone, who they said was “uniquely positioned to testify” but has “declined to cooperate.”

The subpoena was issued after Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified to the committee on June 28.

Trump and Secret Service members have disputed some of Hutchinson’s testimony.

Hutchinson told the panel that Cipollone raised legal concerns around Trump’s involvement in activities on Jan. 6 and that he urged the White House to take certain actions.

Referencing Hutchinson’s testimony, Cheney took to Twitter to call on Cipollone to testify on the record.

“It’s time for Mr. Cippollone to testify on the record. Any concerns he has about the institutional interests of his prior office are outweighed by the need for his testimony,” she wrote.