Expert: New Subpoena Targeting Trump Is Suspiciously Timed Just Ahead of Midterm Elections

News Analysis

The Oct. 13 vote by the House Jan. 6 Committee to subpoena former President Donald Trump is a political ploy intended to help foster the general impression that Trump has too much “baggage” to run for office again, according to an analyst, who said the move also sought to convey that the party associated with Trump, and the candidates in the midterm elections whom he has endorsed, are not the right choice for the country.

The timing of the announcement cannot fail to arouse suspicion given how tight a number of the midterm races in key states have become, notably the senate contests in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio, and Arizona, experts told The Epoch Times.

In the race in Pennsylvania between Trump-endorsed Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman, intensive media scrutiny has focused on the rapid closing of Fetterman’s once-comfortable lead. According to a Trafalgar Group poll conducted over the weekend, the race is now a toss-up with Oz enjoying the support of 44.8 percent and Fetterman commanding 47.2 percent, with the difference well within the margin of error.

The closely watched senate races in Ohio, Georgia, and Arizona are similarly competitive, according to the most recent polling.

But the prime target of the committee and its activities may be Trump’s 2024 ambitions, one expert believes.

“The purpose of the committee is clearly political—it is designed to block Mr. Trump from running for president in 2024,” Charles Steele, chair of the department of economics, business, and accounting at Hillsdale College in Michigan, told The Epoch Times.

Though of course the thought processes guiding members of the committee who voted to issue the subpoena are known only to themselves, Steele does not see evidence rising to the level of certainty of intentions on Trump’s part to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“It isn’t possible to know exactly what the Jan. 6 committee intends by subpoenaing former President Trump. They have no evidence of any wrongdoing on his part, or they would have announced it,” Steele said.

“My suspicion is that they hope to set a trap in some way in order to cook up some charges so they can recommend Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice to start a criminal prosecution,” he added.

Steele sees a marked disconnect between the committee’s ostensible purpose as a nonpartisan fact-gathering body and its actual function. It has crossed the line into activity reminiscent of the targeting of political opposition under authoritarian regimes, Steele believes.

“The Jan. 6 committee is not a normal Congressional fact-finding committee. The proceedings appear to be more like a presentation from a prosecution, and in fact it reminds me of Soviet show trials. The committee is made up entirely of anti-Trump members of Congress, who have stated that it is a foregone conclusion that Trump and his administration are guilty,” he said.

What makes this analogy particularly apt is the procedurally skewed nature of the committee’s actions, which preclude an opportunity to question or argue against