Rudy Giuliani says the January 6 committee is 'illegal' and 'can't subpoena anybody,' — after being subpoenaed himself

• On Tuesday, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani called the January 6 committee "illegal."
• Giuliani said the committee "can't subpoena anybody," despite having been issued a subpoena in January.

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani condemned the January 6 committee as "illegal" and said it doesn't have the power to issue subpoenas — despite having been subpoenaed by the panel last month.

"How can you have any confidence in this committee, which by the way is illegal," Giuliani said on Tuesday evening while appearing on Newsmax. "I mean, it doesn't have a minority membership. It really can't subpoena anybody."

The House's rules for subpoenas require consultation between a committee's majority and minority members, and Giuliani's claim about lacking minority membership appears to discount GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger's and Rep. Liz Cheney's participation in the January 6 panel.

Giuliani's remarks come days after The New York Times reported he had signaled, through his lawyer, his intention to be "less confrontational" towards the House committee's requests for information.

In January, Giuliani was issued a subpoena which claimed the former mayor had "actively promoted claims of election fraud" for Trump and "sought to convince state legislators to take steps to overturn the election results."

Kinzinger said on Sunday that he expected Giuliani, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, to cooperate with the subpoena.

"That's the law. That's the requirement. Same if somebody is subpoenaed to court. There may be some changes in dates and moments here as lawyers do their back and forth, but we fully expect that in accordance with the law, we'll hear from Rudy," the Illinois rep. said on CBS' "Face The Nation."

Robert Costello, Giuliani's lawyer, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.