Donald Trump Admits He Tried To Keep Jared & Ivanka From Testifying To January 6th Committee
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have both testified before the January 6th Committee now, and while the content of their interviews is not public information, in a recent interview, Donald Trump admitted that he tried to help his daughter and son-in-law dodge questioning.
Several members of Trump’s inner circle are not cooperating with the investigation. Steve Bannon has been charged with contempt of Congress for ignoring his subpoena, and others have been referred to the Department of Justice for the same treatment. Some are claiming executive privilege or attorney-client privilege, though these claims don’t seem to be holding up to legal scrutiny.
In a new interview with the Washington Post, Donald Trump appears to admit that he’s offering ‘privilege’ as some protection he believes he can unilaterally bestow on those who might incriminate themselves (or him) by testifying. In fact, he says that his daughter and her husband refused to take him up on the offer, choosing to testify instead.
He said that he doesn’t know what Ivanka or Jared told the Committee, but opined that questioning Ivanka was “harassment,” and let slip that he offered to extend “privilege” but that they refused.
According to NPR, Ivanka Trump was not subpoenaed but received a letter in January requesting a voluntary interview, and after talks with the Committee agreed to do so. Of course, agreeing to meet doesn’t necessarily assure that an individual gives information, rather than pleading the Fifth or denying knowledge, but Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson told reporters that afternoon that Ms. Trump was indeed answering questions — though “not in broad chatty terms.”
Kushner reportedly also gave useful information in his interview, “reveal[ing] some important details” despite having not been present at the Capitol himself that day.
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