The congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has withdrawn its subpoena to Pennsylvania State Sen. Doug Mastriano, citing the "imminent end" of its inquiry.
Mastriano, a Republican who unsuccessfully ran for governor this year, briefly appeared for a deposition in August. But his attorney immediately raised objections on procedural grounds, asserting the committee lacked the authority to depose his client. Mastriano left the virtual interview after about 20 minutes and did not answer questions, according to a transcript released Thursday.
Even after Mastriano left, investigators stated for the record that they had hoped to ask the senator about his communications with former President Donald Trump in the aftermath of the election; his involvement in the convening of false, pro-Trump electors; his presence near the Capitol on Jan. 6; and calls he may have had with the White House that day, "including a call he apparently placed to Vice President Pence on the 6th," the transcript says.
The committee's report, which was released last week, makes no mention of such a call to Pence that day, and the transcript doesn't elaborate. A committee investigator also asserted that Mastriano had communicated "with the president after January 6th about that day and related to the election or joint session of Congress."
The committee withdrew the subpoena days after it released its 845-page report that highlighted efforts by Mastriano and other allies of Trump to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The report drew on hundreds of interviews — including with several Pennsylvania GOP leaders who resisted Trump's pressure campaign — and the committee noted that most of its witnesses for its live hearings were Republicans.
The panel — seven Democrats and two Republicans — raced to complete the report before January, when the GOP is set to take control of the House.
"As you may know, the Select Committee has concluded its hearings, released its final report and will very soon reach its end. In light of the imminent end of our investigation, the Select Committee can no longer pursue the specific information covered by the subpoena," Chairman Bennie Thompson (D., Miss.) wrote in a letter Wednesday to attorney Timothy Parlatore.
"Therefore, through this letter, I hereby formally withdraw the subpoena issued to Mr. Mastriano, and notify you that he is no longer obligated to comply or produce records in response to said subpoena," Thompson wrote.
The panel sent a similar letter to Trump's attorney this week.
Mastriano sued the committee in September, alleging it lacked deposition authority because the panel did not include appointees from House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy. That structure violated House rules regarding compelled depositions, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Washington. Mastriano also wanted to record the interview.
The committee ultimately did not respond to the substance of the lawsuit, and Mastriano dismissed it on Wednesday after the committee withdrew the subpoena.
In late May, Mastriano submitted some documents, including receipts for $3,354 for buses he rented to take supporters to Trump's Jan. 6 rally in Washington, to the committee. He also sent a manifest of passengers that showed he had sold more than 130 tickets and documents he had tweeted after the 2020 presidential election that called on his fellow legislators to stop the certification of the results based on false and debunked fraud claims.
According to the interview transcript, Parlatore told congressional investigators he would be "happy" to discuss having Mastriano sit for a voluntary interview instead of a deposition. "Senator Mastriano is not concerned about answering the questions here," Parlatore told the committee. "Our primary concern is obviously over this committee's demonstrated history of releasing edited and misleading clips in an effort to really lie to the public and mislead them."
In its final report, the committee wrote: "Unlike numerous other witnesses who complied with subpoenas and provided deposition testimony to the Select Committee, Mastriano did not; he logged in to a virtual deposition at the appointed time but logged out before answering any substantive questions or even taking the oath to tell the truth."
Parlatore, in an interview Thursday, said that was misleading. "[Mastriano] was happy to answer questions," he said. "He just wanted to make sure the proper procedural protections were in place."
