Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) launched a court battle on Sunday to quash the House Jan. 6 Committee’s subpoena, which seeks his testimony on ex-President Donald Trump’s phone call to Vos pushing the state lawmaker to somehow decertify his state’s 2020 election results.
Vos filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin seeking an injunction against the subpoena, which demanded that he appear for a deposition with the committee on Monday at 10 a.m. ET.
The Wisconsin Republican leader claimed in the lawsuit that the subpoena imposed an “undue burden” on him because he received it on Saturday, arguing that giving him “less than 48 hours to comply with the subpoena is completely unnecessary and unreasonable.”
Vos accused the committee of deliberately timing his requested deposition to come before the panel holds its next public hearing on Wednesday.
“For reasons only known to the Committee, it believes Speaker Vos’ deposition will generate interest for its self-described made-for-TV production,” the lawsuit stated.
Vos also argued that his conversation with Trump was “not pertinent” to the committee’s investigation.
The Wisconsin GOP leader’s lawsuit also invoked other Republicans’ argument (like that of Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano in his suit against the committee) that the committee itself is invalid because it doesn’t include House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) proposed candidates for the panel. As we know, McCarthy withdrew all of his Republican appointments for the committee after Pelosi rejected two of them — Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Jim Banks (R-IN).
Vos stretched as far as he possibly could to paint the bipartisan committee as having a political agenda, despite the fact that the panel includes two Republicans –- Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Liz Cheney (R-WY), the latter serving as committee vice chair.
So Vos referred to Kinzinger and Cheney as “Members who currently caucus with the Republican Party.”
The committee canceled Vos’ deposition deadline on Monday in response to the lawsuit, but the subpoena remains active, according to Politico.
Read Vos’ lawsuit below:
Frist! First! Foist!
What does Robin Vos have to hide?
I like that the committee uses their subpoena power to just force guys like Vos to answer questions in public, even if they don’t show up. Keep the pressure on.
What is he trying to foist off on us, you mean?
His back tattoo of David Koch.
Because he is in a position to judge?
SICK BURN BRO
Do judges on a regular basis quash subpoenas because the recipient is whiny? “I want this stopped because reasons!”
I could see an argument that Vos needed more time to respond if he had to travel to DC. But I’m guessing they’re asking him to do it electronically. Even if he felt he needed more time, that doesn’t require quashing the subpoena entirely.
Two options: