Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., speaks during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing to examine a Republican-led Arizona audit of the 2020 presidential election results in Arizona’s most populous county, Maricopa, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 7, 2021. Biggs known as one of Trump’s top supportersBiggs known as one of Trump’s top supporters
By Ronald J. Hansen and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez | Arizona Republic
The select committee probing the riot at the U.S. Capitol issued subpoenas Thursday for Rep. Andy Biggs and other key House Republicans, escalating the panel’s battles with a GOP largely unwilling to cooperate to this point.
The Democratic-led committee seeks sworn depositions from Biggs, R-Ariz., as well as Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.; Scott Perry, R-Pa.; Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; and Mo Brooks, R-Ala. The move follows requests for their cooperation that were largely rebuffed.
An attorney representing Biggs declined to comment.
The committee, which seeks to depose Biggs on May 26, explained its thinking in a series of tweets.
“These members include those who participated in meetings at the White House, those who had direct conversations with President Trump leading up to and during the attack, and those who were involved in the planning and coordination of certain activities on and before Jan. 6.
“Before we hold our hearings next month, we wished to provide members the opportunity to discuss these matters with the committee voluntarily. Regrettably, the individuals receiving subpoenas today have refused and we’re forced to take this step.”
Last week, the panel asked Biggs in a letter that was shared publicly, to meet with him about a Dec. 21, 2020, meeting at the White House that involved former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
The panel also wants to discuss what he knew about the “Stop the Steal” effort organized by Ali Alexander, who credited Biggs as instrumental in pulling it together.
The panel wants to know about Biggs’ effort to persuade state lawmakers the election was stolen and enlist their help in preventing President Joe Biden’s victory from being certified.
The committee said Biggs was identified as among a group of Republicans seeking pardons after the attack by the pro-Trump mob and wants to know why such pardons were sought.
The committee noted that Biggs participated in an effort recently determined by a federal judge that more likely than not involved a criminal effort by Trump to obstruct Congress from certifying Biden’s victory on Jan. 6.
If the “plan had worked,” the judge wrote and the committee noted, “it would have permanently ended the peaceful transition of power, undermining American democracy and the Constitution.”
In a written statement in response to the request, Biggs said he would not assist the committee and assailed it as a “sham,” biased against Republicans and collaborating with the media.
