US Capitol riot probe votes to subpoena Trump to testify

Democrat Bennie Thompson and Republican Liz Cheney are the chairman and vice chairwoman of the investigating panel

Trump supporters clashed with police and security forces when they stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021

Lawmakers probing the 2021 attack on the US Capitol voted Thursday to subpoena former president Donald Trump to testify on his role in the violence, in a major escalation of the sprawling inquiry weeks before it is due to wind up.

During what was expected to be its final hearing before the midterm elections, the House panel of seven Democrats and two Republicans agreed unanimously to compel Trump's appearance before investigators.

"This is a question about accountability to the American people. He must be accountable. He is required to answer for his actions."

Trump is notorious for his ability to run down the clock on congressional investigations and legal action, and it remains highly unlikely that he would agree to give evidence.

Reacting on his right-wing Truth Social platform, Trump said the committee was a "total 'BUST' that has only served to further divide our Country."

But the move marks an aggressive escalation of the probe, which has issued more than 100 subpoenas and interviewed more than 1,000 people since its inception in 2021.

- 'Clear and present' threat -

The vote came as a spectacular coda to an already stunning hearing in which the committee offered fresh evidence that Trump had planned to declare victory in the 2020 election -- regardless of the outcome.

Across eight hearings in the summer the panel unveiled reams of evidence on the former president's involvement in a labyrinthine series of connected schemes to overturn the election.

Blockbuster witness testimony in June and July provided stunning examples of Trump and his allies pressuring election officials and trying to get lawfully-cast votes nullified in swing states, and of Trump's inertia amid the mob uprising.

The committee has not announced formally whether it will make direct criminal referrals over January 6, although several members see the issue as moot, since the Justice Department is already investigating.

Thursday's hearing featured new video footage from a Danish film crew shot for a documentary about longtime Trump ally Roger Stone.

"Let's get right to the violence," says the 70-year-old Republican operative, who has not been charged in connection with the riot.

"They're just breaking windows... they said somebody was shot. It's just horrendous, and all at the instigation of the president of the United States," Pelosi is pictured saying. 

Secret Service emails obtained by investigators confirm testimony from previous hearings that Trump wanted to join the mob at the Capitol -- a move that would have escalated a riot into an attack by one branch of the government on another, potentially upending the republic.

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