January 6 committee subpoenas Pat Cipollone, former Trump counsel

Liz Cheney says former president is a 'domestic threat we have never faced before'

On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol in Washington. AFP

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have already spoken to January 6 investigators. Whether they will appear in primetime is yet to be determined. Reuters

Rudy Giuliani, lawyer for former president Donald Trump, gives a press conference in the car park of the Four Seasons landscaping company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after Joe Biden was declared as winner of the 2020 presidential election, which he claimed was false. As a result of these claims, Mr Giuliani can no longer practice law in the state of New York. EPA

Donald Trump meets Clint Hickman, vice chairman of Arizona's 4th District, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, at Phoenix Sky Harbour International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, Mr Hickman said that he refused to take calls from the White House and Mr Trump, who he said was trying to overturn the battleground state's results. AP

Four days before the Capitol riot, Donald Trump placed a call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and asked the official to 'find' 11,780 votes to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the battleground state. The House committee investigators have already interviewed election officials in the state. AP

Ruby Freeman was an employee of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections in Atlanta, Georgia, during the 2020 presidential election. After the state went to Joe Biden, Donald Trump accused Ms Freeman of stealing ballots in a call with Brad Raffensperger, who told Mr Trump that he was being misled by claims on social media. Reuters

Kimberly Guilfoyle, engaged to Donald Trump's son, boasted to a Republican operative that she had raised $3 million for the rally that helped fuel the January 6 Capitol riot. She may be called to testify. AFP

Kash Patel, chief of staff to former acting secretary of defence Christopher Miller, gave a deposition on Capitol Hill to the committee on December 9, 2021. Members of the committee and staff members had been meeting with Mr Patel and 'Stop the Steal' organiser Ali Alexander. Getty Images / AFP

The Willard Hotel in Washington played home to a 'war room' set up by advisers of Donald Trump and has become the focus of the congressional investigation into the January 6 attack. AFP

Former White House chief strategist in the Trump administration Steven Bannon leaves a federal courthouse in Washington after being indicted on two counts of contempt of Congress. EPA

Roger Stone, a former adviser and confidant of Donald Trump, gave a deposition before the committee in which he repeatedly pled the Fifth Amendment when questioned. Getty Images / AFP

Bennie Thompson was chosen by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to lead the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol. Getty Images / AFP

Bennie Thompson meets Liz Cheney, vice-chair of the select committee, Adam Kinzinger and Jamie Raskin on Capitol Hill. The committee voted unanimously to recommend contempt of Congress charges for former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark for defying his subpoena, refusing to answer questions and failing to hand over documents to the committee. Getty Images / AFP

Liz Cheney, committee chairman Bennie Thompson and other members of the committee speak to reporters after meeting with Nancy Pelosi. Reuters

Republican Scott Perry of Pennsylvania helped promote theories that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, resulting in millions of tax dollars spent on recounts in the state. Election workers there were also threatened with violence. Reuters

Lawyer John Eastman spoke with Donald Trump's personal legal representative Rudy Giuliani at the January 6 'Stop the Steal' rally in Washington. During the melee, Mr Eastman emailed Greg Jacobs, aid to vice president at the time Mike Pence, to say that it was Mr Pence's fault that the riot was taking place because he refused to block the election's certification results. Reuters

Before Mike Pence could certify the Electoral College votes before Congress, the last step in the process before Joe Biden was to be sworn in, rioters breached the US Capitol. Outside the chamber doors, a person was shot and police officers were beaten and trampled as some rioters yelled: 'Hang Mike Pence!' EPA

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said he has no intention of complying with a subpoena to appear before the committee and missed a scheduled deposition. Committee members voted unanimously to pursue criminal contempt charges against Mr Meadows for refusing to give evidence. AFP

In a legal setback, a federal appeals court ruled against Donald Trump, demanding he turn over White House records to the committee. AP

Fox News host Sean Hannity sent text messages to the White House during the January 6 insurrection. AP

The Oath Keepers is a US militia group that recruits former members of the military and law enforcement, with many participating in the January 6 attack. The committee has sent a subpoena to its founder, Stewart Rhoades, and several members have been arrested. AP

The select committee subpoenaed Enrique Tarrio, naming him as leader of the Proud Boys, an extremist group that responded to Donald Trump’s call to descend on Washington and which played a central role in the attack on the Capitol. EPA

US Olympic swimmer Klete Keller can be seen, with arms extended and wearing a blue kerchief covering his face, during the attack on the US Capitol. He pled guilty to one count of obstructing an official proceeding and is co-operating with the committee. AFP

House select committee member Liz Cheney told CNN that a witness said Donald Trump's daughter and former White House adviser, Ivanka Trump, pleaded with her father to put a stop to the violence that took place on January 6. Getty Images / AFP

On January 9, 2021, Twitter banned Donald Trump after he tweeted his support for the rioters. Reuters

'Stop the Steal' organiser Ali Alexander gave a deposition on Capitol Hill to the committee. Getty Images / AFP

Stephanie Grisham, former White House Press Secretary under former US president Donald Trump, leaves the O'Neill House office building following a meeting with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th attack on the US Capitol. Reuters

John Eastman, a lawyer for former president Donald Trump, possibly broke legal and ethical rules relating to the 2020 election. AP

Jim Jordan, a Republican congressman, admitted to speaking with Donald Trump on January 6 but refuses to speak with the committee. Reuters

The US House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection subpoenaed former White House counsel Pat Cipollone to give evidence about former president Donald Trump's movements on the day of the attack.

The subpoena was announced days after a former top White House aide said that Mr Cipollone had warned her the administration could be charged with “every crime imaginable” if the president joined the armed rioters outside the steps of the Capitol.

“The Select Committee's investigation has revealed evidence that Mr Cipollone repeatedly raised legal and other concerns about President Trump’s activities on January 6 and in the days that preceded,” the panel said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Any concerns Mr Cipollone has about the institutional prerogatives of the office he previously held are clearly outweighed by the need for his testimony.”

The evidence given by Cassidy Hutchinson, who served as aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, marked the second time Mr Cipollone's name was brought up during the public hearings.

Three former Justice Department officials stated that mid-level lawyer Jeffrey Clark drafted a letter that would have urged the US state of Georgia to appoint a new slate of electors that would declare Mr Trump had won the state in the 2020 presidential elections.

One White House lawyer recalled Mr Cipollone refusing to sign it, calling the letter a “murder-suicide pact”.

Mr Cipollone and the Justice Department officials threatened to resign en masse during a meeting on January 4, 2021, when Mr Trump considered appointing Mr Clark — who embraced Mr Trump's claims of voter fraud — as acting attorney general.

Former assistant US attorney general Steven Engel, former acting US attorney general Jeffrey Rosen and former acting US deputy attorney general Richard Donoghue attend the fifth public hearing of the US house select committee into the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol. EPA

Day five of a planned eight hearings. Reuters

Mr Engel, Mr Rosen and Mr Donoghue prepare to testify. EPA

Mr Engel, Mr Rosen and Mr Donoghue are sworn in to testify during the fifth hearing. EPA

Witnesses testified that former president Donald Trump pressured election officials to find votes. Reuters

Mr Donoghue testified that there was never enough evidence to overturn the 2020 election. Reuters

Former White House senior adviser Eric Herschmann said of former assistant attorney general Jeff Clark's letter to the Georgia electorate: 'Congratulations. You've just admitted the first step or act you take as attorney general would be committing a felony and violating rule 6C. You're clearly the right candidate for this job.' Reuters

Michael Fanone, retired Metropolitan Police Department officer, actor and activist Sean Penn and Daniel Hodges, MPD officer, attend the fifth hearing of the select committee. Bloomberg

Penn shakes hands with Washington Metropolitan police officer Harry Dunn, who was assaulted during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Reuters

Mr Fanone speaks with Penn at the hearing. Bloomberg

As an activist, Penn frequently visits Washington to champion many causes. Bloomberg

Mr Fanone was assaulted during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Reuters

US Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the committee, speaks during the fifth public hearing. Reuters

Mr Fanone and Penn react to testimony during the fifth public hearing. Reuters

Jeffrey Clark, former US assistant attorney general, pressured colleagues to sign a letter alleging that Georgia officials had committed voter fraud. AFP

Committee vice chairwoman Liz Cheney said Mr Trump's actions leading up to and on January 6 were far more “chilling” than previously imagined.

“We are confronting a domestic threat that we have never faced before. And that is a former president who is attempting to unravel the foundations of our constitutional republic,” she said in remarks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Wednesday night.

“As the full picture is coming into view with the January 6 committee, it has become clear that the efforts Donald Trump oversaw and engaged in were even more chilling and more threatening than we could have imagined.”

Ms Cheney said that Republicans cannot be loyal both to Mr Trump and the US Constitution.

A rare voice of dissent against Mr Trump in Congress, Ms Cheney has become a pariah within the Republican party, which has stripped her of her leadership positions and censured her in her home state of Wyoming.

She also faces a challenging primary campaign in which she currently trails Trump-backed challenger Harriet Hageman in the polls.

Reuters contributed to this report