Trump Ally Roger Stone Subpoenaed in Probe of Capitol Riot

(Bloomberg) -- The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol subpoenaed five more aides and supporters of former President Donald Trump, including long-time Trump friend and political adviser Roger Stone and radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

The subpoenas announced Monday underscore the panel’s focus on actions and statements by Trump and his backers in the days before, during and after the the siege at the Capitol, when the former president’s supporters stormed the building as Congress certified the Electoral College results from the 2020 election.

The committee said Stone and Jones were both involved in a rally that preceded the mob marching to the Capitol and storming through police lines in an effort to stop the electoral vote count.

Also subpoenaed Monday were two conservative activists -- Dustin Stockton and Jennifer Lawrence -- who have ties to former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and allegedly helped organize the rally, as well as Taylor Budowich, a Trump spokesman who the committee said sought to set up a social media and advertising campaign to promote the rally.

“We need to know who organized, planned, paid for, and received funds related to those events, as well as what communications organizers had with officials in the White House and Congress,” committee Chair Bennie Thompson of Mississippi said in a statement. “We believe the witnesses we subpoenaed today have relevant information and we expect them to cooperate fully with our effort to get answers.”

All five are instructed in their subpoena letters to turn over documents to the committee by Dec. 6. Stockton is directed to appear for a deposition on Dec. 14, Lawrence on Dec. 15, Budowich on Dec. 16, Stone on Dec. 17, and Jones on Dec. 18.

Part of the committee’s focus is on events at the Willard Hotel, just two blocks from the White House. Those included meetings to discuss plans to stop or delay the Jan. 6 congressional certification of electoral votes and efforts to persuade members of Congress to block the process.

Trump had pardoned Stone in December 2020, following his conviction on charges of making false statements, obstruction and witness tampering as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Committee members say they and their staff have already interviewed more than 200 witnesses, many under subpoena, including other Trump allies and former aides. Little has been revealed about what the committee has learned.

The committee’s only public meetings included a July 27 hearing during which police officers told of their Jan. 6 ordeals at the Capitol and an Oct. 19 gathering when members met to approve a criminal contempt of Congress report against Bannon.

So far, Bannon is the only person who the Democrat-controlled House has voted to hold in contempt for defying a committee subpoena. A federal grand jury this month indicted Bannon on two counts of contempt of Congress.

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and several others who, like Bannon, were instructed by Trump lawyers to defy their subpoenas on the claim of protecting executive privilege have not fully cooperated, according to committee members.

Trump separately has has sued to block release of White House records in response to the committee’s requests.

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