Trump subpoenaed; response to Russia threat; Musk/Twitter investigation

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riots has subpoenaed former President Donald Trump; European and world leaders sounded off on Russia’s threat of World War III; and Elon Musk is under investigation over his acquisition of Twitter. Those stories highlight the Daily Rundown for Friday, Oct. 14, 2022.

Jan. 6 committee subpoenas Trump – The House Jan. 6 committee voted unanimously Thursday to subpoena former President Trump, seeking his personal testimony on the riots. Using language frequently seen in criminal indictments at their latest hearing, the panel said Trump had acted in a “premeditated” way ahead of Jan. 6, 2021, despite countless aides and officials telling him he had lost the 2020 election.

“What Donald Trump proceeded to do after the 2020 election is something no president has done before in our country,” committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said in his opening statement. “In a staggering betrayal of his oath, Donald Trump attempted a plan that led to an attack on a pillar of our democracy. It’s still hard to believe.”

Trump is expected to fight the subpoena and decline to testify. On his social media outlet he blasted members for not asking him earlier and called the panel “a total BUST.”

Response to Russia threat – In response to Russia threatening World War III if Ukraine became a member of NATO, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Thursday that Russia would be crossing a “very important line” if it used nuclear weapons in Ukraine. European officials also sounded off, with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voting to recognize Russia as a terrorist regime, according to a member of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE.

“Any nuclear attack against Ukraine will create an answer, not a nuclear answer but such a powerful answer from the military side that the Russian Army will be annihilated,” European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell added.

Musk Twitter deal investigation – In court filings released Thursday, Twitter revealed Elon Musk is being investigated by federal authorities over his conduct during his purchase of the company. Twitter did not reveal what the exact focus of the probes was and which federal authorities are conducting them.

The Twitter deal legal fallout comes as Musk said his SpaceX company cannot “indefinitely” fund the Starlink internet service being provided to Ukraine during its war with Russia. Musk’s comments Friday follows a report that suggested SpaceX had asked the Pentagon to pay for the donations.

“SpaceX is not asking to recoup past expenses, but also cannot fund the existing system indefinitely *and* send several thousand more terminals that have data usage up to 100X greater than typical households. This is unreasonable,” Musk tweeted.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.