The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol Hill insurrection subpoenaed Wisconsin House Speaker Robin Vos over the weekend, demanding he testify Monday morning, which prompted Vos to file an emergency lawsuit.
Vos asked a federal judge in Wisconsin to block the subpoena, which called for him to testify at 10 a.m. ET on Monday, two days before the committee's next public hearing, according to federal court records.
The judge has not responded yet.
CNN has reached out to the committee for comment. It's unclear if Vos is appearing before the committee Monday morning.
Vos says the committee wants to question him about a conversation he had with former President Donald Trump this July after the state courts blocked the use of some absentee ballot dropboxes, and Trump "requested Speaker Vos take future actions."
"The Committee is demanding Speaker Vos appear for a deposition to answer questions irrelevant to the Committee's investigation, with virtually no notice, in the closing days of his reelection campaign, merely because of the Committee's public relations scheme," his lawsuit says.
Vos is challenging the House committee's authority in court and arguing the subpoena "seeks to infringe on Speaker Vos' legislative immunity" from lawsuits.
In a statement to 27 News via email, Vos said he was surprised to receive a subpoena.
"My conversation with former President Trump took place many months after January 6th and has been about his concerns regarding issues in Wisconsin with the way the 2020 election was handled, a fact that has been publicly documented on numerous occasions in the media.
Given how close we are to the midterms, this subpoena seems to be more about partisan politics than actual fact-finding.
The Constitution protects these sorts of communications, and in light of the clear political nature of this request, we intend to go to court to fight for the immunity given to state leaders under these circumstances.”
Vos is challenging the House committee's authority in court and arguing the subpoena "seeks to infringe on Speaker Vos' legislative immunity" from lawsuits.
Similar lawsuits from other House witnesses have not been successful or have not been decided yet.
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