Cheney: 1/6 panel won’t let Trump turn testimony into circus

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Capitol Riot Investigation

FILE – Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

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Sun, October 23, 2022 at 8:31 AM·5 min read

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• Donald Trump45th President of the United States

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the Capitol riot won’t give Donald Trump the chance to turn a possible live TV appearance of his subpoenaed testimony into a “circus” and “food fight” as lawmakers try to ensure he complies with their demands, the panel’s vice chair said Sunday.

The committee is demanding Trump’s testimony under oath next month as well as records relevant to its investigation. To avoid a complicated and protracted legal battle, Trump reportedly had told associates he might consider complying with the subpoena if he could answer questions during live testimony.

When asked if the committee would consider taking his testimony live, Rep. Liz Cheney on Sunday did not directly respond. She said the committee would not allow Trump’s testimony to turn into a “food fight” on TV — much as was seen, she said, in Trump’s broadcast appearances such as one of his 2020 presidential debates — and she warned that the committee will take action if he does not comply with the subpoena.

“We are going to proceed in terms of the questioning of the former president under oath,” Cheney, R-Wyo., said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “It may take multiple days, and it will be done with a level of rigor and discipline and seriousness that it deserves. We are not going to allow — he’s not going to turn this into a circus.”

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“We have many, many alternatives that we will consider if the former president decides he is not going to comply with his legal obligation, a legal obligation every American citizen has to comply with a subpoena,” she said.

Her office made clear later that she and the Jan. 6 committee were not ruling out the possibility of live testimony. It did not indicate what form that might take to avoid the “food fight” or “circus” that Cheney said would not happen.

The subpoena, issued Friday, calls on Trump to hand over documents by Nov. 4 and provide testimony “on or about” Nov. 14.