Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to former President Donald Trump, is refusing to be deposed or to hand over documents to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, his attorney said in a letter dated Monday.
The letter, which Stone provided to NBC News on Tuesday, invokes his Fifth Amendment right not to testify.
“Given that the Select Committee's demand for documents is overbroad, overreaching, and far too wide-ranging to be deemed anything other than a fishing expedition, Mr. Stone has a constitutional right to decline to respond," wrote his attorney, Grant Smith. "Indeed, the Select Committee seeks an imprecise and undefined category of 'documents and communications concerning' a broad range of constitutionally protected political activity."
Last month, the panel subpoenaed Stone and other Trump allies to testify, arguing that Stone helped spearhead Trump’s crusade to overturn the 2020 election. The committee said that Stone was in Washington on Jan. 5 and 6 to "lead a march to the Capitol" and that he "promoted his attendance at the rallies and solicited support to pay for security.”
The committee has issued batches of subpoenas in recent weeks to dozens of Trump administration officials and allies of the former president. Although many of them have embraced Trump's directive not to cooperate with the panel, some have testified and provided documents, according to the committee.
The committee has pursued contempt charges against some subpoenaed witnesses who have refused to comply. Last month, a federal grand jury indicted former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who has been charged with contempt of Congress for refusing to answer the committee's questions. On Tuesday, a federal judge set a July trial date.
The panel voted unanimously this month to refer former Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark to his previous employer for criminal contempt of Congress after he invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who was also subpoenaed, said Tuesday that he is no longer cooperating with the investigation, prompting the panel to threaten contempt proceedings if he skips his scheduled deposition Wednesday.
