On Jan. 6, the House committee summoned Trump ally Giuliani

Washington, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- On Tuesday, the House Special Committee, which investigated the January 6 congressional attack, formally issued a subpoena to a core member of former President Trump's legal team.

Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, campaign lawyers Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, and campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn, were all asked to testify before the committee.

Giuliani served as mayor of New York City and was one of Trump's top advisers during his presidency. After the 2020 election, Giuliani became the main leader of the Trump campaign to challenge the election results through legal channels in many states across the United States. In June, Giuliani was stripped of his bar for making false statements while challenging the election results.

In a subpoena issued that day, the special committee listed Giuliani's alleged "misconduct," including "actively promoting election fraud claims on behalf of former President Trump, trying to persuade state legislators to take steps to overturn the election results, and requiring Trump to order the confiscation of the voting machines knowing that the Department of Homeland Security does not have legal authority."

Ken Cuccinelli, a former executive deputy secretary of homeland security, told the special committee last October that Giuliani asked the Department of Homeland Security after the 2020 election whether the department had the authority to confiscate certain state voting machines because the Trump team hoped to find evidence of massive election fraud through inspections of voting machines. But Kucinelli gave a negative answer.

In a statement released Tuesday, Special Committee Chairperson Democrat Bennie Thompson said: "The 4 people we summoned today have made baseless theories about election fraud, fueled efforts to overturn the election, or have a direct link to former President Trump's attempt to block voter vote certification." We hope that these people will join the investigation, as the Commission is searching for answers to the attacks on American democracy. ”