Former President Donald Trump is facing legal battles on multiple fronts, and while his lawyers will likely be the ones spending time in the actual courtroom(s), Trump could be forced to testify as a witness in another case. Defense attorneys for five leaders of the “Proud Boys,” the American far-right exclusively male organization that allegedly promotes and engages in political violence, are reportedly intending to subpoena the former president to appear as a witness in their clients’ seditious conspiracy trial.
Donald Trump Getting Hauled Back Into Court?
“At all times relevant, Trump was president of the United States, and it’s the government’s obligation to produce him,” attorney Norm Pattis said in court Thursday, The Washington Post reported. Pattis represents Joseph Biggs, one of the five defendants accused of engaging in a seditious conspiracy to attack the United States Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.
Pattis has not said what the defendants may hope to learn from Trump, but he was joined in the subpoena effort by attorneys representing co-defendant Dominic Pezzola. The legal team would need help from the government to serve a subpoena on the former president as he continues to have a United States Secret Service detail.
According to a draft obtained by CBS News, Biggs’ legal team has sought Trump’s compliance by the beginning of March. A legal paper has yet to be served to the former president, and no attempt to actually compel his testimony has been made. Until it is successfully delivered, the subpoena carries no legal weight unless further legal action is taken.
Such a move is almost certain to be fought by Trump’s team.
In addition, Judge Timothy Kelly, who is now presiding over the trial of the five Proud Boys, including Chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, has yet to make his position on subpoenaing Donald Trump known. The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) is also expected to ask the court to toss such a request as irrelevant and inappropriate.
Trump’s Responsibility Put Into Question
In opening statements of the seditious conspiracy trial last month, the legal team for Tarrio argued that the former president was the one responsible for the deadly riot and that Trump’s influence over the Proud Boys’ alleged involvement warrants further examination.
“President Trump told these people that the election was stolen,” defense attorney Sabino Jauregui told jurors. “Trump told them to go there on January 6th, and it was Trump who in his speech on January 6th unleashed that mob over there at the Capitol.”
This is not the first time that a defendant charged in connection with the January 6 riot has tried to call Trump to the witness stand – but without success. Dustin Thompson, an Ohio man who was eventually convicted on six counts related to the riot, also had sought to subpoena the former president in February of last year. The judge, in that case, ruled Trump’s testimony was inadmissible and blocked Thompson’s legal team from issuing such a subpoena, NBC News reported.
However, as The Washington Post also reported, unlike most other January 6 defendants, the Proud Boys did have connections to people close to the former president. Moreover, in a September 2020 debate with then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, Trump told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”
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Author Experience and Expertise: A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
