The Infowars criminal and the self-proclaimed Nixonian “dirty con man” became the latest figures for former President Donald Trump to be subpoenaed by the House Select Committee on Monday.
But given Stone and Jones’ propensity for historic legal battles, the committee is unlikely to expect quick cooperation. Past behavior isn’t always predictable, and Stone in particular has just emerged from a costly legal battle after being found guilty of lying to Congress in another case involving Trump, for which he was pardoned by the former President. But like Jones, he has a long record of using moments of accountability to perform political stunts and promote extremism.
Stone said in a statement that he had “no prior knowledge” of the events at the Capitol on January 6 and that any statements or reports that allege or imply he did are ” completely untrue.” He later told CNN affiliate KOKI that he was “probably going to assert my 5th Amendment rights, refusing to be interviewed.”
The committee has also shown it is willing to hold stubborn witnesses to account, after the House cited Bannon, another longtime Trump political adviser like Stone, for his disdain for criminals. The Department of Justice has filed charges. Like Bannon, neither Jones nor Stone appear to have a strong case for claiming connections to Trump were shielded by executive privilege since neither worked as administration officials.
The reputation of Stone and Jones, both political bombers who came up with the lie that Trump won the election, shows that neither will be able to withstand the notoriety of a duel. disclosed to the panel.
Andrew McCabe, former deputy director of the FBI and now a senior attorney at CNN, said: “If you think Steve Bannon has enhanced the value of the drama queen in his response to the misdemeanor charge, I do. Guess we haven’t seen anything yet.” execution analyst.
But Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren of California – a committee member who as a law student worked in Congress on the Watergate scandal involving Stone’s adviser, President Richard Nixon – said that Stone and Jones had no choice but to testify.
“You don’t lie to Congress, or you’ll end up in other trouble, criminal law trouble. They’re characters, but they have to come in and tell the truth,” she said on “The Situation Room” of the company. CNN.
Stone and Jones were not the only new witnesses targeted on Monday.
The committee also sent subpoenas to Dustin Stockton and Jennifer Lawrence, who played key roles in the “Stop Theft” movement, and Taylor Budowich, who is now a spokesman for Trump.
A committee with serious purposes
A new round of gimmicky members hungry for attention in Trump’s orbit will not hide the committee’s vital purpose. After all, Trump has attempted to use presidential powers to violate the will of voters and destroy democratic institutions based on lies about a stolen 2020 election. And given that Trump could run for re-election to the White House as an autocrat who doesn’t want to be exposed, the panel’s final findings could be crucial to voters in 2024.
“Al Gore has a better argument case than Mr. Trump, but he’s a man about what happened to him,” Walton said. “He accepted it and walked away.”
“Any investigation that doesn’t staunchly examine Mr Trump’s documents and communications will be worse than futile – the equivalent of staging a Hamlet play without the Prince of Denmark,” the filing said. their profile said.
Deep dive into ‘Theft Prevention’
Stone has rarely caused controversy since Trump transformed American politics by launching his campaign in 2015.
“This case would never have been brought to light if it hadn’t been for Roger Stone,” the filing said.
The House Select Committee previously issued a number of subpoenas to organizers of protests in Washington, DC, on January 5 and 6 before the uprising. CNN reported that the investigation included questions about security forces at the protests and those associated with Stone and others.
In its letter to Jones, the committee said he was denied speaking at the January 6 rally but his earlier comments indicated he was assigned “to lead a march to the Capitol, where President Trump will meet the group.” The committee acknowledged that once on Capitol Hill, Jones told people “not to be violent.” Trump never appeared on Capitol Hill.
Lofgren told CNN’s Jim Acosta on “The Situation Room” that Stone had raised money to secure the “Stop Thieves” rally through his websites, and Jones has claimed to raise most of the money. the amount of cash needed to hold the January 6 event.
There is nothing wrong with holding a political rally. Even Trump’s lies about stolen elections are protected by freedom of speech. But the committee appears to be trying to figure out whether the Capitol riots were a direct response by the mob to lies being sold by Trump at the rally, or whether the former president or others. people in his orbit laid the concrete ground for the rally to turn into an uprising. .
Katelyn Polantz, Whitney Wild, Zachary Cohen, Ryan Nobles and CNN’s Annie Grayer contributed to this story.
.
