The House select committee responsible for investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection of the capital issued a subpoena on Friday, calling for documents and direct testimony from former President Donald Trump.

The subpoena calls for text messages, phone calls, letters, or other documents regarding the incident to be shared with the committee by Nov. 4. Furthermore, Trump must appear before the committee and provide a disposition testimony either in Washington or over video conference. If Trump fails to cooperate, he may be charged with contempt of court, something which is punishable by either a hefty fine or imprisonment.

If we do not find a way to hold him responsible for inciting this riot, then we will set a precedent where the President of The United States can make fraudulent claims and incite violence without facing the consequences of doing so.

Trump’s presidency has been largely controversial, and save for a twitter ban, he has made many claims without evidence and promoted them as “truth” without punishment, regardless of the harm they have caused. 

For example, despite evidence gathered by the top medical experts in the United States refuting the idea that Covid-19 would “go away,” Trump claimed, “It’s going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear. And from our shores, we — you know, it could get worse before it gets better. It could maybe go away. We’ll see what happens.”

Two years, and over a million American deaths later, these claims have still gone unpunished even though they helped lead to the deaths of so many of our citizens.

Trump’s attack on the integrity of US elections at his rally the day of the insurrection undeniably helped spur his supporters into action. He made claims attacking our democratic process and urging his supporters to fight. He said, “You will have an illegitimate president. That is what you will have, and we can’t let that happen. If you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

If Trump decides to dodge the committee, like his advisor Steve Bannon did, it will only serve as the latest example of the former president refusing to adhere to the basic laws and principles of being a public representative.

Unfortunately the consequences of ignoring the subpoena are rather tame, as Bannon was only sentenced to four months in prison. If Trump decides to do the same thing, he will likely only pay a fine or serve a short prison sentence. A seemingly small price to pay for inciting violence leading to rioting at the Capital.

Elijah Gerard, a fourth year Anthropology major said,” I definitely think it’s important [to hold Trump responsible] and that he should be, but it’s abundantly clear that nothing is going to happen and he will ignore the subpoena, so it feels like a waste of time.”

We can only hope that this committee actually holds this man truly responsible for his actions and helps to combat this precedent where elected officials can get away with inciting violence or making fraudulent claims.

It is intrinsic to the very function of our political system to ensure that this man is held responsible for his actions, lest we forget what a true democracy is.