House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested on Sunday, October 23 that former US President Donald Trump is too much of a ‘coward’ to obey a subpoena from the U.S. Congress compelling him to testify to a special committee investigating his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
On Friday, the select committee announced that it had issued the subpoena to Trump, giving him until Nov. 4 to submit a wide range of documents related to his activities before and after the deadly Jan. 6 attack by the former president’s supporters. The panel also informed Trump that it wants him to appear for testimony on or about Nov. 14.
Since he lost the 2020 election, Trump has insisted he is the victim of widespread voter fraud, an allegation that has been dismissed by lawcourts.
The violence at the Capitol erupted as Trump supporters attempted to stop Congress from formally certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s decisive win in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump has maintained he did nothing illegal on the day of the Capitol riot. He regularly refers to the congressional panel as the “unselect committee” and has accused it of waging unfair political attacks on him.
“I don’t think he’s man enough to show up. I don’t think his lawyers will want him to show up because he has to testify under oath,” Pelosi said in an interview with MSNBC.
“We’ll see if he’s man enough to show up,” she added.
Trump and Pelosi have always had a rocky relationship.
Pelosi guided two impeachment proceedings against Trump and their dislike of each other sometimes was on public display during his presidency.
At the conclusion of Trump’s 2020 “State of the Union” speech to Congress, Pelosi tore in half a printed copy of that address as she sat behind him during the nationally televised event. That came after Trump arrived at the House podium to begin the speech and refused to shake Pelosi’s hand.
