On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) sent a letter to the January 6 committee, officially responding to the subpoena it served him last month.
While there had been many reports of the committee calling on Brooks to testify, the congressman said he did not actually receive the subpoena until June 24.
The full letter can be read here.
In the letter, Brooks laid out his objections to the subpoena, arguing that “Congress’s subpoena authority is not without limitation.”
“Unfortunately, the words and actions of this Committee and its members have made it clear that it is not exercising a valid or lawful use of Congress’ subpoena power,” Brooks said. “In fact, the Committee is not even operating in compliance with the rules its own members voted to put in place.”
The Alabama congressman listed five objections to the Committee’s subpoena including “Failure to Allow Required Minority Representation,” “Failure to Comply with Ranking Member Requirements,” “Committee Does Not Engage in Valid Legislative Tasks,” “The Subpoena Does Not State the Deposition Place,” and “Minority Party Excluded from Depositions.”
Brooks emphasized that all of this proved the subpoena was legally defective.
“[I]t is unclear how the Committee believes it’s operating within the bounds of law or even within the confines of the authorizing resolution,” he said.
He also reiterated that he would voluntarily testify if certain conditions were met, which he put forward in a separate letter he sent the committee before receiving the subpoena.
“Finally let me emphasize that my offer to voluntarily appear before the Committee,” he continued in the letter, “pursuant to the terms and conditions stated in my letter of June 23, 2022 to all Committee members still stands. Please let me know if you wish to pursue my voluntary cooperation on the terms and conditions previously stated.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” Weekdays 9-11am on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
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