A longtime Gingrich aide got a January 6 subpoena two weeks before Newt called the committee a ‘lynch mob’ whose members could go to jail

• Gingrich suggested January 6 Committee members could face jail if Republicans take over Congress.
• The sharp reaction came about two weeks after his longtime former aide received a subpoena.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's controversial weekend comment that the House January 6 Committee investigators could face jail time themselves if Republicans take over Congress came about two weeks after the panel subpoenaed his longtime former aide who also co-authored a book with him.

The select House committee investigating the US Capitol riot wants to speak with Ross Worthington, who worked in the Trump White House as an advisor for policy, strategy, and speechwriting.

In a January 10 letter to Worthington, the committee said that it believes he helped draft the January 6 speech Trump gave at the rally on the Ellipse in Washington before the lame duck president's supporters stormed the Capitol. The letter from Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, came with a subpoena that carries the force of law requiring Worthington's compliance.

Worthington served as a research director and lead writer for the media and communications firm Gingrich Productions before joining Trump's transition team that helped him prep for the White House in late 2016 and early 2017.

He also served as deputy communications director for Gingrich's unsuccessful 2012 presidential campaign and a year later they co-authored the book, "Breakout: Pioneers of the Future, Prison Guards of the Past, and the Epic Battle That Will Decide America's Fate."

"This might be hitting a little close to home for Gingrich and he is upset that his colleague has to deal with the January 6th commission," one former Republican leadership staffer told Insider in an email when asked about the connection between Gingrich and the Worthington subpoena.

On Fox News, Gingrich unleashed on Sunday on the committee and Attorney General Merrick Garland for acting like a "lynch mob" in their pursuit of "innocent people." He also warned that when Republicans win majorities in Congress the January 6 investigators are "going to I think face a real risk of jail for the kind of laws they're breaking."

Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming who serves on the House's January 6 committee, swung back at Gingrich. "This is what it looks like when the rule of law unravels," she wrote on Twitter.

Gingrich could not immediately be reached for comment.

The House committee issued Worthington a subpoena compelling him to provide documents by January 24 and to appear for a deposition on February 2. Committee staff said they had no updates on the status of his response.

A federal grand jury has already indicted Trump's former senior aide Stephen Bannon on contempt charges for refusing to provide information to the committee. He has pleaded not guilty and faces a July trial in Washington.

Warren Rojas and Kimberly Leonard contributed to this report.