Former President Donald Trump’s top lawyer in his fight with the House Jan. 6 committee declared victory Thursday in forcing the panel to withdraw its subpoena on the former president, which she called an assault on the separation of powers.
“President Trump,” Harmeet Dhillon told Secrets, “defended the doctrine of separation of powers and the independence of the presidency. The committee’s subpoena, clearly issued for political purposes, was an assault on those principles, and if allowed to stand, threatened the independence of the Executive Branch itself in our carefully balanced system of government.”
1/ BREAKING! After my firm filed suit on separation of powers grounds to block January 6 House Select Committee’s illegitimate subpoena to President Trump over his activities while president— the committee waved the white flag & withdrew subpoena. We were confident of victory/ pic.twitter.com/7ElOXljpt1
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) December 29, 2022
Dhillon, the leading challenger to Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who is running for a fourth term, added, “While it should never have been issued, we are pleased that the subpoena has finally been withdrawn and that this abuse of process is at an end, though at great cost to the American people.”
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The move by Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol, came late Wednesday in a letter to the Dhillon Law Group.
It said that since the panel had filed its final report, the subpoena was no longer needed. Trump never gave in to the request to testify.
Last night, Dhillon tweeted, “After my firm filed suit on separation of powers grounds to block January 6 House Select Committee’s illegitimate subpoena to President Trump over his activities while president — the committee waved the white flag & withdrew subpoena. We were confident of victory.”
She added, “In court, given precedent & refusal of prior presidents to testify in Congress, J6 committee wasted millions for a purely political witch-hunt, total abuse of process & power serving no legitimate legislative purpose.”
On his Truth Social platform, Trump also cheered the move, writing, “Was just advised that the Unselect Committee of political Thugs has withdrawn the Subpoena of me concerning the January 6th Protest of the CROOKED 2020 Presidential Election. They probably did so because they knew I did nothing wrong, or they were about to lose in Court. Perhaps the FBI’s involvement in RIGGING the Election played into their decision. In any event, the Subpoena is DEAD!”
The panel has forwarded four criminal referrals against Trump to the Justice Department, which is conducting its own investigation of the post-election Capitol riot.
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The withdrawal of the subpoena was a victory for Dhillon beyond the legal fight. It drew attention anew to her ties to and support of the former president, who has not picked a favorite in the RNC chair race, set for a late January vote.
Her critics have claimed that she was not a Trump supporter, clearly false just by the fact that she is handling Trump’s case.
