The House committee investigating the pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 announced Thursday that it had subpoenaed a retired Army colonel who contributed to a PowerPoint presentation about how to overturn the 2020 election results that was presented to Republican lawmakers ahead of the riot.
"The document he reportedly provided to Administration officials and Members of Congress is an alarming blueprint for overturning a nationwide election," Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the committee's chairman, said in a statement about the subpoena for the man, Phil Waldron.
The PowerPoint presentation was among the documents handed over to the committee by Mark Meadows, who was former President Donald Trump's chief of staff at the time of the attack on the Capitol.
The presentation included baseless assertions that China and Venezuela took control of the U.S. electoral system. Other slides suggested a plan for the Trump administration to "declare electronic voting in all states invalid," call a national emergency and seize ballots.
In a letter demanding documents and testimony, Thompson told Waldron that the committee's investigation and public reporting "have revealed credible evidence that you have information concerning attempts to disrupt or delay the certification of the 2020 election results."
Waldron has told The Washington Post that he was part of a team that briefed lawmakers about the presentation and that he had contributed to the briefing. He also told the newspaper that he had visited the White House several times after the election and had met with Meadows "maybe eight to 10 times" in the run-up to Jan. 6.
Waldron could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.
The PowerPoint presentation was one of the documents the committee planned to question Meadows about this month, but he refused to show up for his scheduled deposition. The House voted Tuesday to refer Meadows to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress for defying the panel's subpoena.
