Donald Trump’s desire to confront and testify before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurgency is being met with fierce opposition from his legal advisers, who are warning him that it could endanger his other legal challenges, according to the Guardian.
According to Hugo Lowell of the Guardian, the announcement and subsequent vote by the bipartisan committee to subpoena the former president were received as a challenge, and he believes he can take them on.
According to the Raw Story report notes, the chances of Trump meeting with committee members appear slim due to some of Trump’s reported stipulations, which some observers believe would turn it into a “political spectacle.”
“The driving factor pushing Trump to want to testify has centered around a reflexive belief that he can convince investigators that their own inquiry is a supposed witch-hunt and convince them that he committed no crimes over January 6, according to sources familiar with the matter,” Lowell wrote.
He added, “Trump has previously expressed an eagerness to appear before the select committee and ‘get his pound of flesh as long as he can appear live before an audience, the sources said – a thought he reiterated to close aides on Thursday after the panel voted to issue him a subpoena.”
That plan has his lawyers raising objections by pointing out the possible blowback, with the report adding, “Trump also appears to have become more aware of the pitfalls of testifying in investigations, with lawyers warning him about mounting legal issues in criminal inquiries brought by the justice department and a civil lawsuit brought by the New York state attorney’s office.”
According to the report, Trump invoked his right against self-incrimination more than 440 times during his recent appearance in a deposition ordered by the New York state attorney’s office.