The Jan. 6 Committee Wants to Speak With State Sen. Doug Mastriano

Mastriano, who is running for governor, was outside the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and organized several bus trips that day from Pennsylvania to Washington, DC.

The US House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection on Tuesday subpoenaed state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin). 

The subpoena calls for Mastriano to appear for a deposition on March 10. 

In a statement announcing the subpoena, the committee’s Democratic chairman Bennie Thompson said their investigation found that Mastriano was part of a plan to arrange for an “alternate” slate of electors from Pennsylvania for former President Donald Trump and spoke with Trump about post-election activities.

In a letter to Mastriano, Thompson cited his presence outside the Capitol the day of the insurrection, saying his public statements indicated “you witnessed ‘agitators … getting in the face of the police’ and ‘agitators … start pushing the police up the Capitol steps.’”

“We would like to better understand these statements and expenditures, events that you witnessed or in which you participated, and communications we believe you may have had with national, state and local officials” about the 2020 presidential election outcome, Thompson wrote. 

Mastriano, who is running for governor, has been an outspoken Trump supporter, helping to amplify his baseless claims of a stolen election. In July, Mastriano launched a “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election, but state Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R-Centre), also a gubernatorial candidate, removed him from leading the investigation after disputes over how to run it. 

Mastriano also organized several bus trips from Pennsylvania to Washington, DC the day of the insurrection, though it is unclear if anyone on Mastriano’s buses was involved in the attack on the Capitol. 

Mastriano has yet to comment on the subpoena. 

He is the third Pennsylvanian to be subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee.

Last month, the committee issued subpoenas for Bill Bachenberg and Lisa Patton, the two chairpersons of a competing Electoral College meeting held by Republicans in December 2020 to submit rival Pennsylvania electoral votes for Trump.

The committee in December also requested an interview with Republican US Rep. Scott Perry (Dauphin), about his efforts to install Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general prior to the Capitol attack. Perry refused their request. 

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.