2 years ago
Donald Trump Jr., the son of the former president, interviewed with the Jan. 6 committee on Tuesday, according to two people familiar with the matter.
He’s the latest member of the Trump family to provide testimony to the select committee probing the Capitol attack, following the panel's interview last month with Ivanka Trump. Trump's son-in-law and former adviser Jared Kushner, as well as Trump Jr.’s fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle, have also talked to investigators. A spokesperson for the former president’s son did not respond to a request for comment.
The select panel has indicated that it is interested in Trump Jr.’s knowledge of his father’s push to subvert the 2020 election. The committee has also highlighted a text message Trump Jr. sent to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows as a mob overtook the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In that message, he urged his father to make a more forceful statement to condemn the violence.
“He’s got to condemn this [shit] Asap. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough,” Trump Jr. texted Meadows.
More recently, CNN reported that Trump Jr. sent a text message to Meadows days after the 2020 election describing a plan to have then-Vice President Mike Pence refuse to count Electoral College votes in a bid to stop President Joe Biden's victory.
Trump Jr. is also the latest select panel witness believed to have been in the Oval Office the morning of Jan. 6 with Trump, his top aides and family members. Shortly after they arrived, per a private White House schedule obtained by the committee, Trump called Pence to make a final effort to pressure him to overturn the election.
Trump Jr.’s interview, confirmed on condition of anonymity and conducted without a subpoena lasted several hours, according to people familiar with the matter. And it's not unexpected: POLITICO reported at the end of April that he intended to soon meet with the panel, which also interviewed Guilfoyle for hours on April 18 after subpoenaing her for documents and testimony.
The select committee declined to comment.
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