Trump 'Trying to Hide His Guilt' If He Refuses 1/6 Subpoena: Legal Expert

A leading legal analyst believes that efforts by former President Donald Trump to avoid the House select committee's subpoena could be damning.

Laurence Tribe, a constitutional law expert and professor emeritus at Harvard University, made a Saturday night appearance on MSNBC and spoke to host Ayman Mohyeldin about the most recent hearing of the select committee investigating last year's Capitol riot. The committee held its ninth and potentially final hearing on Thursday, ending it with an unprecedented and unanimous vote to subpoena the former president to testify under oath about the events surrounding the insurrection.

"We have left no doubt—none—that Donald Trump led an effort to upend American democracy that directly resulted in the violence of January 6," the committee's chairman Bennie Thompson said. "He is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on January 6. So we want to hear from him."

Whether or not Trump will comply with the subpoena remains to be seen. In response to the committee's vote, Trump released a lengthy statement on Friday morning that contained yet more unfounded assertions that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and lambasted the select committee for not investigating his baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud. Trump's statement, however, did not definitively state whether or not he will comply with the subpoena.

Tribe said during his MSNBC appearance that, should he attempt to avoid the subpoena, Trump could either be held in contempt by the committee or taken to court over it, both of which would take time. He also said that the House committee could interpret any such attempts as tacit admissions of guilt on the part of the former president.

"The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that even though you cannot use someone's refusal to testify against them in a criminal trial... it can and should be used to draw the logical inference that he is trying to hide his guilt," Tribe said. "That's why he doesn't want to come. It's not because he's got bone spurs. It's not because he has forgotten too much. It's because he knows that if he's not going to perjure himself, he's going to have to convict himself."

In reaction to Trump's Friday statement, former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, came to a similar conclusion as Tribe, calling it "sharply self-incriminating."

"The January 6 Committee investigating the insurrection just subpoenaed Donald Trump to testify and Donald Trump responded, sort of, with a letter," Kirschner said. "A letter that is deeply and sharply self-incriminating...He didn't write that letter, he had help, he had somebody draft that letter with him or for him. And here's what I would say, anybody who helped or participated in the drafting of that letter, with or for Donald Trump, needs to be looked at as a co-conspirator because this letter is a continued effort to deceive the American people."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office for comment.

During his time at Harvard, Tribe has had numerous notable students, including former President Barack Obama and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. He also had an extensive career as a litigator, arguing cases in front of the Court 36 times.