Rep. Liz Cheney on Trump testimony: He’s ‘not going to turn this into a circus’

By Aaron Pellish, CNN

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, said the panel would want to avoid a “circus” if former President Donald Trump complies with the committee’s subpoena and testifies.

Cheney said in an interview with NBC News on Sunday she expects Trump will comply with a subpoena from the committee that called on the former President to testify and share select documents with investigators. Cheney said the committee plans to treat Trump’s testimony “with great seriousness.”

“We are going to proceed in terms of questioning of the former President under oath,” Cheney said. “It may take multiple days, and it will be done with a level of rigor and discipline and seriousness that it deserves.”

Asked about the possibility of Trump testifying publicly, Cheney said the committee will treat his testimony “with great seriousness.”

“(Trump)’s not going to turn this into a circus,” Cheney said. “This isn’t going to be, you know, his first debate against Joe Biden and the circus and the food fight that that became. This is a far too serious set of issues.”

The committee formally sent its subpoena to Trump’s attorneys last week after announcing its intention to do so at its most recent hearing earlier this month. The subpoena orders Trump to turn over documents to the committee by November 4 and appear for “one or more days of deposition testimony beginning on our about November 14.”

Cheney said the committee has “many, many alternatives” if Trump does not ultimately comply with the committee’s subpoena, although she did not elaborate on what those alternatives would be.

CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to better reflect Cheney’s response about the possibility of live television testimony by former President Donald Trump.

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