MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s Republican Assembly chief is suing to block a subpoena that orders him to testify just before the Dwelling committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection about a conversation he had with Donald Trump about overturning the 2020 election.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos submitted the lawsuit on Sunday in federal court docket in Wisconsin arguing that the subpoena falls exterior the scope of the committee’s investigation into last year’s Capitol assault and infringes on his legislative immunity from civil course of action.
Vos, who had a falling out with Trump this summer, also alleged that the brief detect of the subpoena placed an undue load on him. Rep. Bennie Thompson, committee chair, issued the subpoena Friday ordering Vos to seem on Monday morning possibly in particular person or through videoconference. The deposition did not occur.
In his lawsuit, Vos explained the only clarification for the “extreme deadline” was to carry out the interview just before the committee’s upcoming televised hearing on Wednesday “so that clips can be edited out to be applied in a multimedia clearly show.”
Others who have been subpoenaed by the committee have also sued to prevent giving testimony.
Vos, in a assertion Monday, stated he was stunned to be subpoenaed due to the fact he has no facts about the occasions encompassing the Jan. 6 attacks.
“Given how close we are to the midterms, this subpoena looks to be a lot more about partisan politics than precise reality-locating,” he mentioned.
A letter from Thompson that accompanied the subpoena stated lawmakers want to speak with Vos about a July call with Trump in which the previous president asked Vos about steps he was getting to overturn the final results of the 2020 election.
The phone was in reaction to a Wisconsin Supreme Court docket ruling that absentee ballot fall boxes, which had been utilized in the 2020 election and many others just before it, would be illegal likely forward.
Soon after Vos took no action to overturn the election, Trump endorsed his principal challenger.
Vos narrowly gained his major, and 3 times afterwards fired Michael Gableman, the previous Wisconsin Supreme Court docket justice he had hired, less than force from Trump, to investigate the 2020 election. Vos called Gableman, who also endorsed his major opponent, an “embarrassment.”
Gableman’s inquiry turned up no proof of prevalent fraud, but the investigator joined Trump in calling for lawmakers to consider decertifying the 2020 election.
The new lawsuit was assigned to U.S. District Decide Pamela Pepper, who was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama.
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Venhuizen is a corps member for the Linked Press/Report for The usa Statehouse Information Initiative. Report for The united states is a nonprofit countrywide provider method that places journalists in community newsrooms to report on undercovered concerns.
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Additional on Donald Trump-related investigations:
Abide by the AP’s coverage of Jan. 6 at:
Hurt Venhuizen, The Connected Press
