US law enforcement officers surround US Capitol following security incident
US law enforcement officers surround US Capitol following security incidentReuters

The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot is dropping several of its pursuits for related phone records, CNN reported on Wednesday, citing court filings this week.

The committee sent out dozens of subpoenas seeking call logs, including to major phone companies, as part of its investigation into former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election result. However, several Trump allies sued, contesting the committee’s authority, and Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile agreed not to turn over any data to the House while those lawsuits were litigated in court. Few of the cases have been resolved.

That means the House select committee will not be able to incorporate in its final report without some of the information it long sought about the communications of top witnesses around Trump and the White House in late 2020 and January 2021.

According to CNN, the committee this week withdrew its phone-records subpoenas related to Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka, White House aide Stephen Miller, elections attorney Cleta Mitchell, conservative political activist Roger Stone, some January 6 Capitol riot defendants and Amy Harris, a photojournalist who spent time with top members of the Proud Boys around January 6, 2021.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, chair of the committee, said last week that the panel's long-awaited report will be released on Wednesday, December 21.

Thompson added that the report's release would be coupled with some form of public presentation, the details of which are still being sorted out by committee members. He also said that any decisions regarding potential criminal referrals will come the same day.

The committee held a series of hearings earlier this year that its Thompson said "left no doubt - none - that Donald Trump led an effort to upend American democracy" by inciting the assault.

In recent months the committee has interviewed a number of former Trump administration Cabinet officials, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as well as Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The panel also subpoenaed Trump himself, but he failed to comply with the subpoena, which ordered him to submit documents by November 4 and to appear for deposition testimony beginning on or about November 14.