WASHINGTON — Leaders of the House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol said Friday they’ve given former President Donald Trump a short extension to begin producing records under a panel subpoena.
“We have informed the former president’s counsel that he must begin producing records no later than next week and he remains under subpoena for deposition testimony starting on Nov. 14th,” the committee’s chairman Bennie Thompson, and vice chair Liz Cheney, said in a statement.
The two lawmakers said the panel has “received correspondence” from Trump and his counsel.
The announcement is tantamount to an extension for Trump’s legal representatives at the Dhillon Law Group to answer to the subpoena’s demands for a range of documents, a deadline that had been set for Friday. The subpoena already called for Trump to testify under oath before the panel by Nov. 14 or soon after.
The law firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday night.
Trump has been tentatively planning to announce his widely anticipated 2024 campaign for the White House the week of Nov. 14, according to people familiar with the matter.
The subpoena, approved by the panel on Oct. 13, portrays Trump as the key instigator in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol.
On Tuesday, Cheney spoke about Trump, the subpoena and the potential of his testifying during an appearance in Cleveland, indicating then that discussions between the camps were occurring.
“We haven’t made determinations about the format itself, but it will be done under oath and potentially over several days,” said Cheney, of possible Trump testimony.
She sidestepped what would occur if Trump wants the testimony to be public, rather than behind closed doors like other witnesses at least initially do, saying: “This is not a situation where the committee is going to put itself at the mercy of Trump.”
“I think he has a legal obligation to testify,” she added.
Separately, Steve Bannon, Trump’s former White House strategist, filed notice Friday that he’s appealing his conviction and four-month prison sentence for defying a Jan. 6 committee subpoena.
The appeal means Bannon won’t have to surrender to prison authorities on Nov. 15 since the judge said he’d hold off until the appeal is resolved.
(Tim Smith and Joe Schneider contributed to this report.)
