Congressman Mo Brooks, R-Alabama, and four other Republican congressmen were issued subpoenas on Thursday from the House panel that’s investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The committee had previously asked for Brooks’s voluntary cooperation, but Brooks declined. The previous letter to Brooks from the committee centered its request of Brooks on what the congressman has publicly said of former President Donal Trump’s requests for Brooks to help overturn the election results.
The letter reads in part: “You recently made the following public comment in a televised program: “The President [Trump] has asked me to rescind the election of 2020. He always brings up, ‘we’ve got to rescind the election. We’ve got to take Joe Biden down and put me in now.’”
Brooks in a statement turned down the offer to voluntarily help in the investigation.
“I’ve already given numerous sworn affidavits and public statements about January 6. At this moment and time, right before an Alabama U.S. Senate election, if they want to talk, they’re gonna have to send me a subpoena, which I will fight,” Brooks said.
Committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, in the letter to Brooks on Thursday noted that the committee has a tremendous respect for the privacy of members of Congress but that the work in front of them was critical.
“Unfortunately, you have declined voluntary cooperation, and we are left with no choice but to issue you this subpoena,” Thompson said.
APR‘s attempts to reach Brooks for comment Thursday were unsuccessful, but in a statement Thursday Brooks said he hadn’t yet been served with the subpoena and hadn’t decided how he’ll respond to it.
Brooks in the statement referred to the committee as the “partisan Witch Hunt Committee” adding that he believes he’ll wait and consult with the other four Republican congressmen who were also issued subpoenas – congressmen Jim Jordan, Scott Perry, Andy Biggs and Kevin McCarthy – before he decides how to respond.
Brooks gave a speech at that Jan. 6 rally near the Capitol in which he told the crowd it was time to start “taking down names and kicking ass.” Brooks was wearing body armor when he gave that speech.
