Jan. 6 committee bracing for multi-pronged attack as Republicans take over the House: report

Members of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot are bracing for Republicans' taking the House next month who are likely gearing up to discredit the committee's work, Rolling Stone reports.

As Rolling Stone points out, Jan. 6 committee staff are "preparing for their investigation to be investigated."

"I was told [months ago] by a superior to fastidiously avoid putting anything in writing or in emails that could one day be used against the committee and our important work," says one former investigator told Rolling Stone. "Nothing that could be taken out of context, and nothing that could be held up as some kind of 'smoking gun' for the Jim Jordan's and [Marjorie Taylor Greene's] of Congress."

Some staff are wondering if they should retain lawyers.

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"The question isn't what can be subpoenaed, but what the committee is required to turn over to its successor committee or the National Archives under House rules," says Michael Stern, an attorney and a former senior counsel to the House of Representatives. "It gets murkier if you are talking about informal staff work product like notes and the like… If the incoming majority thinks that there are things that should have been turned over that were not, or it just wants access to certain information, it could issue subpoenas or take other steps to obtain access to records that are in the hands of individual members and staff. Its options will depend in part on whether the individuals in question are still members or staff of the House in the next Congress."

According to Rolling Stone, sources say Donald Trump "spoke to House Republican allies earlier this year about potential plans for tearing through the Jan. 6 committee's undisclosed records and communications, aiming to uncover dirt or unflattering details."

Read the full report over at Rolling Stone.