Will Trump testify about the Capitol riot before the Jan. 6 committee?

"You were at the center of the first and only effort by any US president to overturn an election. You knew this activity was illegal and unconstitutional", the letter reads.

“We recognize that a subpoena to a former president is a significant and historic action,” Chairman Bennie Thompson and Vice Chair Liz Cheney wrote in the letter to Trump. “We do not take this action lightly.”

The panel also demanded Trump turn over a number of documents by November 4, including any communications he had regarding extremist groups, such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, that were involved in the riot.

Sources close to Trump told The Guardian that the driving factor pushing him to want to testify has centered around a belief that he can convince investigators that their own inquiry is a witch-hunt and that he should be exonerated over  the events that occurred on Jan. 6.

Trump has previously expressed an eagerness to appear before the select committee and “get his pound of flesh” as long as he can appear live, the sources said, a thought he reiterated to close aides after the panel voted to issue the subpoena.

However, Trump also appears to have become more aware of the consequences of testifying in current investigations, with lawyers warning him about mounting legal issues in the civil lawsuit brought by the New York Attorney General.

Trump invoked his fifth-amendment right against self-incrimination more than 400 times in a deposition with the office of the New York Attorney General before the office filed a giant fraud lawsuit against him, three of his children, and senior Trump Organization executives.

Trump also took the advice of his lawyers during the special counsel investigation into ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia, submitting only written responses to investigators despite initially telling advisers he wanted to testify to clear his name.

That recent action shows that Trump is more aware of the legal risks of testifying, especially if it’s under oath, given his habit of lying about events of any nature, which is a crime before Congress.

Any lies of his would almost certainly be caught by the committee, as the panel intends to have the questioning conducted by attorneys, many of whom are top former Justice Department lawyers or federal and national security prosecutors.

"I don't think he's man enough to show up. I don't think his lawyers will want him to show up because he has to testify under oath", Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with MSNBC.

However, the select committee might also face a difficult choice of how to proceed should Trump simply ignore the subpoena, claiming the Justice Department’s internal legal opinions indicate that presidents and former presidents have absolute immunity from testifying to Congress.

Investigators could then seek judicial enforcement of the subpoena, though it would take months; time that the committee does not have, given it will most likely be disbanded at the end of the current Congress in January 2023 if Republicans retake control of the House of Representatives.

Should the panel instead simply move to hold Trump in contempt of Congress for defying the subpoena, he could face criminal charges, just like his former strategist Steve Bannon, who was fined $6,500 and sentenced to four months in jail.