Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a Republican and the panel’s vice chairwoman, said on Tuesday that the House select committee looking into the January 6, 2021 uprising is “in discussions” with former President Donald Trump’s lawyers regarding the former leader testifying under oath in the investigation.

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Trump has until Friday to reply to the committee’s request for papers, and his testimony must be given before November 14. The former President “has an obligation to comply,” according to Cheney, during a Cleveland, Ohio presentation concerning the possibility of political violence, but the panel has not yet decided on the style of his potential testimony.

“It’ll be done under oath. It’ll be done, potentially, over multiple days,” according to Cheney, who also stressed that the committee is not in a position where it is dependent on Trump’s “mercy.”

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Trump’s attorneys have acknowledged receiving the committee’s subpoena, but Cheney’s remarks are the first sign that negotiations have started.

At the time of writing this story, Trump’s attorneys had not commented on the matter.

On October 21, the panel issued a subpoena to Trump demanding a variety of documents and that he participate in an oath-taking interview beginning on November 14 and “continuing on subsequent days as necessary.”

Also read: Nancy Pelosi believes Donald Trump too coward to testify before January 6 panel

Trump was portrayed as the key player in the multi-step scheme to invalidate the results of the 2020 presidential election in a letter from the committee that was attached to the subpoena.

On his social media platform Truth Social, the former president said in response to the subpoena, “Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago?” 

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“Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting? Because the Committee is a total ‘BUST’ that has only served to further divide our Country which, by the way, is doing very badly – A laughing stock all over the World?” he added.

However, Trump’s criticism of the January 6 committee was not new. He had earlier called them the “Unselect Committee of Political Thugs and Hacks,” adding that they were “evil, sinister, and unpatriotic.”