Note: this article was published Jan. 5, 2022.
Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said Wednesday the Congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol may “move heaven and Earth” to get former President Trump to testify about what he knew prior to that day. However, he doesn't think the committee would need it.
“If it comes down to a head to head, trying to speak to Donald Trump, I know that we'll move heaven and Earth to get there,” Kinzinger said. “[But] we can put the pieces together without him.
“Know that every new thing [the public] learns, we probably know three or four times that information that we haven't released yet.”
Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the House Select Committee, said invoking a subpoena war with the former president could further politicize the non-partisan work the committee has been undertaking.
“I would love to have his take. I don't know if I necessarily believe his take, but I do believe the take of a lot of the people we've talked to that were around him on Jan. 6," Kinzinger said.
“We will ensure as a committee that the report doesn't read as a partisan report, that it actually just lays out the facts. ... I think when we advance one year, five years, 10 years into the future, it'll be close to 100% of Americans who recognize the work of the committee.”
Thus far, the committee has uncovered a PowerPoint presentation, created prior to the riot, that detailed how the Trump administration could conceivably overturn the results of the 2020 election. Committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) called the document “an alarming blueprint for overturning a nationwide election."
It has also produced text messages from Trump aides and allies, urging action in the hours before Trump eventually told his followers "we love you" but "go home.”
This week, the committee penned a letter to FOX News Host Sean Hannity, asking for his cooperation, not as a journalist but as a political advisor to the president, after texts surfaced of the television host providing advice to the president’s chief of staff prior to Jan. 6.
“There's a real question between journalistic discussions and somebody that has claimed he's not a journalist giving advice to a political operative about things going on in the future,” Kinzinger said of Hannity.
The Congressman also confirmed the committee was aiming to wrap its investigation well before this fall’s midterms.
“What is likely is the Republicans will take the majority, and they will shut down this committee if the work's not done,” Kinzinger said. “So we do have a clock on us, and I hope we can get that all done. I'm pretty confident we will.”
Noah Pransky is NBCLX’s National Political Editor. He covers Washington and state politics for NBCLX, and his investigative work has been honored with national Murrow, Polk, duPont, and Cronkite awards. You can contact him confidentially at noah.pransky@nbcuni.com or on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.