Trump lawyers ‘in discussions’ over possible appearance before the Jan. 6 committee: Rep. Liz Cheney

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers have opened negotiations with the Jan. 6 committee about a possible appearance under oath, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said Tuesday.

The vice chair of the congressional committee surprisingly gave the impression that talks to secure Trump’s cooperation with a subpoena were making some progress.

“We haven’t made a determination about the format (but) it’ll be done under oath,” Cheney said at an appearance in Cleveland.

Cheney, a fierce critic of Trump, said any Trump appearance would be “done, potentially, over multiple days” because of the sheer volume of questions the panel has about the former president’s involvement in every aspect of the scheme to overturn the 2020 election.

[ Liz Cheney: We cannot become nation of conspiracy theories ]

The conservative lawmaker added that the committee was willing to be flexible but would not allow itself to be put at “the mercy of Donald Trump.”

Trump is facing a Friday deadline to respond to a subpoena from the committee for his testimony and voluminous documents related to his effort to stay in power despite losing to President Biden.

Legal analysts believe it is highly unlikely that Trump will appear since anything he says can be used against him in the myriad criminal investigations of his actions leading up to the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The negotiations between the committee and Trump’s lawyers may be little more than legal and political shadowboxing.

Trump’s legal team may believe that by engaging in talks with the panel, they can lay the groundwork for him to avoid being charged with contempt of Congress.

The committee, on the other hand, may hope to show the public that it is doing everything it can to obtain Trump’s testimony, even if it means bowing to some of his lawyers’ concerns.

The committee has referred four people who defied its subpoenas to the Department of Justice.

Federal prosecutors charged ex-White House aides Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, both of whom completely snubbed the panel’s requests, while it declined to seek indictments of ex-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino, who did offer some cooperation.