Jan. 6 select committee subpoenas former White House counsel

June 29 (UPI) -- The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has subpoenaed former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, the committee's chairman confirmed Wednesday.

The committee is interested in Cipollone's account of the days leading up to the U.S. Capitol insurrection, the committee said in a joint statement issued by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the panel's chairman and ranking member, respectively.

"The select committee's investigation has revealed evidence that Mr. Cipollone repeatedly raised legal and other concerns about President [Donald] Trump's activities on January 6th and in the days that preceded. While the select committee appreciates Mr. Cipollone's earlier informal engagement with our investigation, the committee needs to hear from him on the record, as other former White House counsels have done in other congressional investigations. Any concerns Mr. Cipollone has about the institutional prerogatives of the office he previously held are clearly outweighed by the need for his testimony," reads the statement.

Cipollone previously spoke with the committee privately and on a voluntary basis during an informal interview April 13. The committee says he has since failed to cooperate further.

"The select committee has continued to obtain evidence about which you are uniquely positioned to testify," reads the committee's letter notifying Cipollone of the subpoena.

"Unfortunately, however, you have declined to cooperate with us further, including by providing on-the-record testimony. We are left with no choice but to issue this subpoena."

The committee's line of questioning seems to focus on Trump's attempted appointment of Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general as well as efforts to interfere with the congressional certification of the electoral results.

"As we heard yesterday, WH counsel Pat Cippollone had significant concerns re. Trump's Jan 6 activities. It's time for Mr. Cippollone to testify on the record. Any concerns he has about the institutional interests of his prior office are outweighed by the need for his testimony," Cheney wrote on Twitter Wednesday.