Last week, the Jan. 6th Select Committee issued several subpoenas for members of  Donald Trump’s legal team during the 2020 election. The Committee alleges that these individuals – Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell and Boris Epshteyn – were all major actors in the effort to overturn the 2020 election. According to the Committee, these individuals, “publicly promoted unsupported claims about the 2020 election and participated in attempts to disrupt or delay the certification of election results.” 

Most notably, Giuliani was an avid supporter of former President Trump. For months, Giuliani made claims that the election was rigged. The Committee claims that he “sought to convince state legislators to take steps to overturn the election results.” Reports have also shown his contact with, “various members of Congress regarding strategies for delaying or overturning the results of the 2020 election.” Powell is reported to have, “[urged] President Trump to direct the seizure of voting machines around the country to find evidence that foreign adversaries had hacked those machines and altered the results of the election.” 

Colin Swearingen, professor of Political Science at John Carroll University, said that when it comes to executive privilege, “the rules are vague and ultimately the arbiter of what counts is the Supreme Court and they have already decided that some of these things are not protected by executive privilege.” 

These subpoenas bring into question the issue of “executive privilege,” a controversial topic in recent months. Supporters of the former President “[argue] that they do not have to comply because they were advising Trump and are protected by executive privilege.” The attorney for Guiliani, Robert Costello, argues “the committee cannot seriously think that they can subpoena four lawyers and actually obtain factual information in violation of the attorney-client privilege.” This issue of releasing information private to President Trump and his attorneys is a major hurdle for the committee to overcome. 

However, the committee has stated “they are open to using subpoenas to compel reluctant members of Congress to testify if they have the authority.” However, this may harm Democrats because Republicans have claimed to form investigations into the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, the president’s son Hunter Biden and security failures that lead to the Jan. 6 attack, with a focus on scrutinizing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

Colin Moorhead II is a junior from Wadsworth, Ohio and is a World News staff writer for The Carroll News. He can be reached through email at [email protected] or on Instagram @colinmoorhead2.