According to a report from the Guardian, Donald Trump's desire to confront and testify before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection is facing fierce resistance from his legal advisers who are cautioning him it could have implications for the other legal challenges he is facing.
As the Guardian's Hugo Lowell wrote, the announcement, and then vote, by the bi-partisan committee to subpoena the former president was received by him as a challenge and he believes that he can take them on.
However, the report notes, the chances of Trump sitting down with the committee members appear slim because of some of Trump's reported stipulations which some observers believe would end up turning it into a "political spectacle."
"The driving factor pushing Trump to want to testify has centered around a reflexive belief that he can convince investigators that their own inquiry is a supposed witch-hunt and convince them that he committed no crimes over January 6, according to sources familiar with the matter," Lowell wrote.
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He added, "Trump has previously expressed an eagerness to appear before the select committee and 'get his pound of flesh' as long as he can appear live before an audience, the sources said – a thought he reiterated to close aides on Thursday after the panel voted to issue him a subpoena."
That plan has his lawyers raising objections by pointing out the possible blowback, with the report adding, "Trump also appears to have become more aware about the pitfalls of testifying in investigations, with lawyers warning him about mounting legal issues in criminal inquiries brought by the justice department and a civil lawsuit brought by the New York state attorney’s office."
The report adds that Trump's recent appearance in a deposition ordered by the New York state attorney’s office led him to invoke his right against self-incrimination more than 440 times.
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