Kinzinger ‘certainly willing’ to subpoena Trump in Jan. 6 probe: ‘He’s not off limits’

Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R), who serves on the special committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, said on Thursday that issuing a subpoena for former President Trump was not off the table with regard to his committee’s investigations.

“I think we can get to all the information we need without him, but I think we are certainly willing to do it. That’s something I want to make clear is he’s not off-limits,” Kinzinger said in an appearance on MSNBC. “But I also think if we can get that information prior to him and obviously you recognize the second he’s subpoenaed it creates a whole circus, but we will do what we need to do.”

Kinzinger added that anyone who refuses to come before Congress may face consequences and could be compelled to appear but added that the process may take some time.

.@SRuhle asks Rep. Kinzinger whether the Jan. 6 Committee will subpoena fmr. President Trump.

“I think we’re certainly willing to do it, that’s something I want to make clear. He’s not off limits.” https://t.co/eyo75uv93W

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 21, 2021

The committee voted unanimously earlier this week to forward former Trump strategist Steve Bannon to the Justice Department for failure to comply with a Congressional subpoena. A full House vote on that recommendation is expected later on Thursday.

“Based on the committee’s investigation, it appears that Mr. Bannon had substantial advance knowledge of the plans for January 6th and likely had an important role in formulating those plans,” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who serves as the Jan. 6 committee’s vice chairwoman said on Wednesday.

Kinzinger added on Thursday that the committee was “pursuing lots of fronts” regarding Bannon’s testimony, though the former strategist has argued that he has a right to executive privilege.

A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed that 56 percent of Republicans thought that Trump did not bear any responsibility for the events of Jan. 6. Kinzinger said that it was “a difficult number to look at.” 

“We are so tribalistic in this country that I think people don’t want to know facts, because it’s whatever narrative puts them in the tribe,” Kinzinger said on MSNBC of the poll’s results. 

“We have to have unity when it comes to defending democracy, or we will find ourselves in a bad place,” he also said.