By Brittany Anderson
A Dripping Springs man was subpoenaed by the United States House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Attack for his alleged involvement with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) said in a press release on Dec. 16 that the Select Committee subpoenaed James ‘Phil’ Waldron for records and testimony, saying that he appears to have been involved with efforts to promote claims about fraud in the 2020 election which later led to the Jan. 6 attacks.
Waldron, a retired U.S. Army Colonel, is the owner of One Shot Distillery in Dripping Springs. He is also the founder and CEO of OneWarrior, teaching self-defense courses and firearm training.
Waldron was apparently in communication with White House officials, including Mark Meadows, and members of Congress, whom he briefed on election fraud theories. He also publicly acknowledged that he contributed to the creation of an over 30-page PowerPoint presentation that was given to, or described for, Republican members of Congress on the eve of Jan. 6, and attended meetings in early January 2021 at the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C to gather purported evidence of election fraud.
Two days before his subpoena, on Dec. 14, Waldron gave a presentation titled “Built for Integrity: How to make Louisiana elections transparent and trustworthy” as an invited speaker at a Louisiana voting system commission meeting.
Waldron’s presentation said that the electoral system in place is “vulnerable to fake voters, fake ballots and fake counts” and outlined ways to prevent voter fraud — including only in-person, election day voting and getting rid of “black box” voting machines and relying solely on hand-counted ballots that would later be counted on a live stream. Several members of the commission questioned the practicality and accuracy of this proposed process.
Thompson said in the press release that the document Waldron reportedly provided to Administration officials and members of Congress is an “alarming blueprint for overturning a nationwide election.”
“The Select Committee needs to hear from him about all these activities,” Thompson said in the press release. “We expect him to comply with the law and provide records and testimony as the Select Committee continues its work to get answers for the American people about Jan. 6 … and help ensure nothing like that day ever happens again.”
Per the subpoena, Waldron must produce requested documents by Jan. 10, 2022 and appear for a deposition on Jan. 17, 2022.
The subpoena sent to Waldron and Thompson's press release can be found at january6th.house.gov. More to the story will follow as information becomes available.
