House January 6th Select Committee Chair Congressman Bennie Thompson told the Guardian his staff are zeroing in on a call Former President Trump made hours before the Capitol riot to Rudy Giuliani and other minions – Steve Bannon, John Eastman, Boris Epshteyn among them – stationed at the Willard Hotel “war room” to stop the 2020 election’s certification in Congress.
Sources also told the Guardian that a subpoena to Rudy is likely in the cards, despite a near guaranteed garbage “attorney client privilege” claim. “The attorney-client privilege does not operate to shield participants in a crime from an investigation into a crime. If it did, then all you would have to do to rob a bank is bring a lawyer with you, and be asking for advice along the way,” Congressman Jamie Raskin told the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell.
Such talk is yet another strong indicator that the House January 6th Select Committee is building a case for a criminal referral for Trump based on mounting evidence that he purposely incited the riot and did not act to stop it in order to prevent Congress from certifying the election, a felony act of obstruction of an official proceeding, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.