House Jan. 6 committee subpoenas Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, 4 other GOP congressmen

PHOENIX — A congressional panel on Thursday issued subpoenas to five Republican representatives, including Andy Biggs of Arizona, as part of its investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol and its causes.

The House Jan. 6 committee wants deposition testimony from Biggs, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Reps. Scott Perry (Pennsylvania), Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Mo Brooks (Alabama) regarding their knowledge of the events leading up to Jan. 6.

The investigation portion of the committee’s work is winding down and will be followed by public hearings.

The Select Committee has subpoenaed Representatives Kevin McCarthy, Scott Perry, Jim Jordan, Andy Biggs, and Mo Brooks for deposition testimony as part of the committee’s investigation into the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol and its causes.

— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) May 12, 2022

“Before we hold our hearings next month, we wished to provide members the opportunity to discuss these matters with the committee voluntarily,” Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) said in a press release.

“Regrettably, the individuals receiving subpoenas today have refused and we’re forced to take this step to help ensure the committee uncovers facts concerning Jan. 6. We urge our colleagues to comply with the law, do their patriotic duty, and cooperate with our investigation as hundreds of other witnesses have done.”

The panel says Biggs, who represents the East Valley-based 5th Congressional District, was involved with plans to bring protestors to Washington for the counting of Electoral College votes and efforts to persuade state officials that the 2020 election was stolen.

Biggs issued a response Thursday afternoon that didn’t address whether he planned to comply with the subpoena.

“Today’s actions by the illegitimate Jan. 6 committee are pure political theater. The subpoenas and news of their issuance were leaked to the media before the impacted members,” Biggs said hours after the committee posted about the subpoenas on social media and its website.

“The Jan. 6 committee’s ongoing, baseless witch hunt is nothing more than an effort to distract the American people from the Democrats’ and Biden’s disastrous leadership. The border is in crisis, inflation is skyrocketing, crime is rampant, and Democrats are focused on fabricating their own facts to take down Republican leaders.”

Congress was in the process of officially certifying President Joe Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump overwhelmed security and broke into the Capitol, temporarily halting the proceedings.

Until now, the House panel had refrained from issuing subpoenas to lawmakers, fearing the repercussions of such an extraordinary step. Congressional subpoenas for sitting members of Congress, especially for a party leader, are almost without precedent in recent decades.

The panel had previously asked for voluntary cooperation from the five men, along with a handful of other GOP lawmakers, but all of them refused the requests.

In a letter delivered to Biggs on Thursday, Thompson said “we are left with no choice but to issue this subpoena.”

Biggs questioned the legitimacy of the bipartisan committee when he rejected a meeting earlier this month.

“The committee has been a sham since its origins,” he said in a statement on May 2. “Its entire purpose is to destroy President Trump and his supporters, intimidate members of Congress, and distract Americans from real issues that are destroying this country.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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