Trump Tells Former Aides to Defy Subpoenas From Jan. 6 Panel

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald J. Trump has instructed his erstwhile aides not to comply with subpoenas from the peculiar legislature committee investigating the Capitol riot, raising the imaginable of the sheet issuing transgression referrals for immoderate of his closest advisers arsenic aboriginal arsenic Friday.

In a missive reviewed by The New York Times, Mr. Trump’s lawyer asked that witnesses not supply grounds oregon documents related to their “official” duties, and alternatively to invoke immoderate immunities they mightiness person “to the fullest grade permitted by law.”

The House committee has ordered 4 erstwhile Trump medication officials — Mark Meadows, the White House main of staff; Dan Scavino Jr., a lawman main of staff; Stephen K. Bannon, an adviser; and Kash Patel, a Pentagon main of unit — to beryllium for depositions and furnish documents and different materials applicable to its investigation. They each faced a Thursday deadline to respond.

Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the president of the prime committee, has threatened transgression referrals for witnesses who bash not comply with the subpoenas, and said the committee expected witnesses “to cooperate afloat with our probe.”

The determination amounted to a declaration of warfare by Mr. Trump connected the investigation, and raised ineligible questions astir however acold the committee would beryllium capable to spell successful compelling accusation from a erstwhile president and his advisers.

The committee is demanding that Mr. Meadows and Mr. Patel taxable to questioning adjacent Thursday, and Mr. Bannon and Mr. Scavino the pursuing day.

It is unclear whether President Biden’s squad volition spot acceptable to widen enforcement privilege — which shields a sitting president’s communications and deliberations from disclosure — to the erstwhile president.

The Justice Department and the White House person already waived enforcement privilege for a erstwhile batch of witnesses who were asked to attest earlier the Senate Judiciary and House Oversight committees, who were investigating the Jan. 6 onslaught and the Trump administration’s efforts to subvert the results of the statesmanlike election. The Justice Department argued that privilege was conferred successful bid to support the instauration of the presidency, not to supply immunity for wrongdoing.

Taylor Budowich, a spokesperson for Mr. Trump, said the records petition by the prime committee was “outrageously broad” and that it lacked “both ineligible precedent and legislative merit.

“Executive privilege volition beryllium defended, not conscionable connected behalf of President Trump and his administration, but besides connected behalf of the bureau of the president of the United States and the aboriginal of our nation,” helium added.

The instructions from Mr. Trump were reported earlier by The Guardian.

The deadline for compliance from the prime committee’s archetypal batch of subpoenas came arsenic it issued 3 much connected Thursday, targeting organizers of the “Stop the Steal” rally that brought unneurotic galore of Mr. Trump’s supporters who went connected to violently tempest the Capitol.

The latest subpoenas question deposition grounds from Ali Abdul Akbar, besides known arsenic Ali Alexander, and Nathan Martin, some of whom were progressive successful organizing protests astir the state — including successful Washington connected Jan. 6 — based connected Mr. Trump’s lies that helium was the rightful victor of the 2020 predetermination and that it had been riddled with fraud. The committee besides issued a subpoena for Stop the Steal L.L.C., an enactment affiliated with the event.

“The rally connected the Capitol grounds connected Jan. 6, similar the rally adjacent the White House that day, instantly preceded the convulsive onslaught connected the spot of our democracy,” Mr. Thompson said. “Over the people of that day, demonstrations escalated to unit and protesters became rioters.”

In the weeks earlier the attack, Mr. Alexander, a far-right activistic and conspiracy theorist, made repeated notation during “Stop the Steal” events to the imaginable usage of unit to execute the organization’s goals, and helium claimed to person been successful connection with the White House and members of Congress regarding events planned to undermine the certification of the 2020 Electoral College results, the committee said.

Mr. Alexander has claimed that he, on with Representatives Mo Brooks of Alabama, Paul Gosar of Arizona and Andy Biggs of Arizona, each Republicans, acceptable the events of Jan. 6 successful motion.

“We 4 schemed up of putting maximum unit connected Congress portion they were voting,” Mr. Alexander said successful a since-deleted video posted online, “so that who we couldn’t lobby, we could alteration the hearts and the minds of Republicans who were successful that body, proceeding our large roar from outside.”

Additionally, Mr. Alexander spoke astatine a rally connected Jan. 5 held by the Eighty Percent Coalition astatine Freedom Plaza successful Washington and led the assemblage successful a chant of “Victory, oregon death,” the committee said.

The committee has present issued 18 subpoenas, galore focusing connected the funding, readying and enactment of the rally that morphed into a convulsive rampage astatine the Capitol, wherever Congress was gathering to formalize President Biden’s predetermination victory. They chanted “Hang Mike Pence,” threatened to sprout Speaker Nancy Pelosi and forced lawmakers to evacuate the building. About 140 constabulary officers were injured, and respective radical died successful transportation with the riot.

The committee said it was trying to get to the bottommost of the organizing of the Jan. 6 event, fixed the conflicting accusation its investigators person received.

An enactment named One Nation Under God submitted a licence exertion successful December to the U.S. Capitol Police for a rally astir “the predetermination fraud successful the plaything states” connected Jan. 6 that listed Mr. Martin’s telephone fig and email code among the interaction information.

But erstwhile a Capitol Police authoritative spoke with Mr. Martin astatine the extremity of December, Mr. Martin claimed not to person immoderate accusation astir the rally and directed the authoritative to talk with a vendor, the committee said. According to the constabulary official, the vendor was “shocked” to larn this due to the fact that helium was successful “daily communication” with Mr. Martin astir the event, the committee said.

After the Jan. 6 attack, Mr. Alexander released a connection acknowledging that Stop the Steal had obtained the rally licence “for our ‘One Nation Under God’ event,” the committee said. He said it was the volition of Stop the Steal to nonstop attendees of the rally to march to Lot 8 connected the U.S. Capitol grounds, which is the determination for which the Capitol Police granted the licence for the “One Nation Under God” rally. The licence exertion estimated the lawsuit would person lone 50 attendees, not the hundreds who marched connected the Capitol.

The subpoenas necessitate Mr. Alexander and Mr. Martin to nutrient documents by Oct. 21 and attest astatine depositions adjacent week.

The committee’s latest enactment came arsenic the Senate Judiciary Committee released a lengthy interim report astir Mr. Trump’s efforts to unit the Justice Department to bash his bidding successful the chaotic last weeks of his presidency. Mr. Thompson said helium planned to incorporated the Senate’s findings into the House inquiry.

Katie Benner and Alan Feuer contributed reporting.