Planners of Jan 6 Trump rally subpoenaed by panel probing Capitol riot

The House panel investigating the US Capitol insurrection issued subpoenas to two Republican strategists and a Trump administration official regarding their involvement in the planning and preparation of one of the rallies that preceded the attack.

Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, Democratic chairman of the panel, on Tuesday issued subpoenas to Andy Surabian and Arthur Schwartz, strategists who advised Donald Trump Jr., and Ross Worthington, a former White House official who the committee says helped draft former President Donald Trump's speech for the rally that directly preceded the Jan 6 attack.

We have reason to believe the individuals we've subpoenaed today have relevant information and we expect them to join the more than 340 individuals who have spoken with the Select Committee as we push ahead to investigate this attack on our democracy and ensure nothing like this ever happens again," Thompson said in a letter Tuesday.

Worthington is a former Trump White House and campaign aide who served as a speechwriter and policy adviser. He had previously worked for former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally.

Surabian is a GOP strategist who has worked with Trump's eldest son, Trump Jr., former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and others within the Trump orbit. The committee alleges he and Schwartz, another strategist who has worked with Trump Jr. and Bannon, communicated with people including Trump Jr. and his fiance and Trump fundraiser Kimberly Guilfoyle regarding the Jan. 6 rally on the Ellipse.

Schwartz had no comment when reached by The Associated Press on Tuesday, and Surabian and Worthington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The panel has already interviewed more than 300 people as it seeks to create a comprehensive record of the Jan. 6 attack and the events leading up to it.

Trump at the time was pushing false claims of widespread voter fraud and lobbying Vice President Mike Pence and Republican members of Congress to try to overturn the count at the Jan. 6 congressional certification. Election officials across the country, along with the courts, had repeatedly dismissed Trump's claims.