WASHINGTON — Six people accused of promoting false claims the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent and taking part in efforts to delay or overturn results were subpoenaed Tuesday by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
“The six individuals we’ve subpoenaed today all have knowledge related to those matters and will help the Select Committee better understand all the various strategies employed to potentially affect the outcome of the election,” the committee’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, said in a statement.
The six who are being ordered to turn over documents and testify include Cleta Mitchell, a conservative activist who the committee said participated in a telephone call in which former President Donald Trump pressured the Georgia secretary of state to “find” enough votes to reverse his loss there.
Also subpoenaed was Kenneth Chesebro, who the committee said promoted legal theories within the 2020 Trump campaign on the use of slates of bogus electors in states Trump lost. Two others, Christina Bobb and Katherine Friess, allegedly were involved in efforts to draft an executive order for Trump that would have directed federal agencies to seize voting machines in numerous states, the committee said.
Also subpoenaed was Kurt Olsen, who the committee alleges prepared a draft executive order for Trump that would have directed the Department of Justice to “take voter action,” and had multiple phone calls with the then-president on Jan. 6, the day a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
A sixth subpoena went to Philip Kline, who allegedly convened a meeting between Trump and more than 300 state legislators in an attempt to distribute purported evidence of election fraud. and encourage legislators to sign a letter urging Vice President Mike Pence to delay the electoral certification on Jan. 6.
