The House committee investigating the January 6th Capitol riot in January subpoenaed (a writ ordering a person to attend a court) four lawyers who were closely involved with then President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Among these lawyers were Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, and Boris Epshteyn.

Representative Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the bipartisan panel, said in a statement that the four lawyers “Advanced unsupported theories about election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results, or were in direct contact with the former President about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes.”

Trump’s legal team attempted to overturn the results by filing lawsuits alleging widespread irregularities with ballots and claims by partisan poll watchers who said they couldn’t see everything going on, in part because of precautions taken as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 50 lawsuits were filed, mostly in “battleground states.” These states, also known as swing states, occur when that state could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican presidential candidate by “swing in votes,” and are often a target for major party campaigns.

Four days after the November 3rd, 2020, election, while The Associated Press and other media outlets were calling it for Joe Biden, Giuliani held a press conference at a landscaping company in Philadelphia to announce his team planned to challenge the election results. It was the beginning of a pressure campaign to allot electoral votes in battleground states where Biden won over to Trump instead.

However, most of the lawsuits were quickly batted down in the courts, sometimes within days of filing. But the legal challenges and the multiple press conferences held by Giuliani and others helped urge Trump supporters behind the idea that the election had been stolen, even though Trump’s own attorney general said there was no evidence of widespread fraud, and local officials said it had been the most secure election in history.

Giuliani spoke at the rally in front of the White House that preceded the January 6th insurrection. Like Trump, he suggested the certification of Biden’s victory was an existential crisis for the country and used rhetoric that alluded to violence. “Let’s have trial by combat,” he said. “I’m willing to stake my reputation, the President is willing to stake his reputation, on the fact that we’re going to find criminality there.”

Trump’s family phone records, organizers of rallies and events preceding the January 6th attack, individuals who advised on election fraud claims and rallies, a Department of Justice official, Trump campaign officials, Trump White House officials, groups and individuals linked to the Capitol Hill riot were also subpoenaed.

The investigation continues.