The committee requested that Trump appear before it to testify in mid-October. According to the committee, Trump allegedly played a "central role" in organizing and orchestrating the unrest of his supporters at the Capitol building on January 6, 2021, after he lost the election to incumbent US President Joe Biden.
The committee admitted that a subpoena to a former president is a "significant and historic action," but noted that Trump would not be the first former US president to testify before Congress.
"Plaintiff Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States, hereby sues the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol... Former President Trump turns to the courts to preserve his rights and Executive Branch independence consistently upheld by the courts and endorsed by the Department of Justice," Trump's complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief read.
The document said that "the Committee lacks authority to issue the Subpoena and, in any event, President Trump is not required to comply."
"While other Presidents and former Presidents have voluntarily agreed to testify or turn over documents in response to a congressional subpoena, no President or former President has ever been compelled to do so... President Trump, as a former President of the United States, has absolute immunity from being compelled to testify before Congress regarding his actions while in office. The Committee’s Subpoena is explicitly addressed to President Trump in his capacity as a former President, seeking information about his actions while President, and for the purpose of regulating future Presidents and is therefore invalid," the complaint read.
David Warrington, Trump's attorney, said on Friday that "long-held precedent and practice maintain that separation of powers prohibits Congress from compelling a President to testify before it."
"After the J6 Committee has undertaken the unprecedented act of demanding President Trump appear for a deposition on Monday, November 14th, he engaged with the Committee in a good faith effort to resolve these concerns consistent with Executive Branch prerogatives and separation of powers, but this partisan Committee insists on pursuing a political path, leaving President Trump with no choice but to involve the third branch, the judicial branch, in this dispute between the executive and legislative branches," Warrington said in a statement, as quoted by CNN.
On January 6, 2021, pro-Trump demonstrators breached the Capitol complex and delayed the certification of 2020 presidential election results in favor of Joe Biden. Hundreds of individuals have since been charged with crimes related to the riot.