As a contempt vote in the House looms for Trump White House officials who sidestepped subpoenas from the Jan. 6 Committee, NBC News has reported first that investigators of the attempted overthrow will meet today with Ivanka Trump, the ex-president’s daughter, and onetime adviser.
Ivanka reportedly appears Wednesday on the heels of a private deposition given by her husband and fellow senior adviser to the former president Jared Kushner. Kushner appeared voluntarily. Ivanka was first asked to appear in January and talks have reportedly been ongoing since then.
The probe is particularly interested in hearing details from Ivanka about her father’s conduct before, during, and after the siege. Former Vice President Mike Pence’s national security advisor Keith Kellogg told the committee he and Ivanka were present when Trump called Pence to pressure him to stop the certification.
As that call had ended, Ivanka turned to Kellogg and said of the vice president: “Mike Pence is a good man.”
It is unclear whether Ivanka Trump will appear remotely or in person. A representative for the committee declined to comment to Daily Kos on Wednesday.
If she indeed appears, she will be the second member of the Trump family circle to testify since Kushner went first last week.
Investigators have targeted phone records belonging to President Trump’s son Eric Trump as well as records belonging to Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s financée. Guilfoyle received a separate subpoena direct from the committee on March 3 following a voluntary appearance that fell apart fast.
The committee has appeared generous with Trump family members thus far, extending opportunities for “friendly” or voluntary meetings and granting time to negotiate appearances.
Guilfoyle was afforded that friendliness too but balked when on the day of her deposition, she realized she would have to testify in front of members of the committee as well as House counsel. Her attorney chalked up the opposition to a fear of media leaks.
Guilfoyle’s fundraising efforts around the rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6 are front and center for the probe. Last year, text messages obtained by ProPublica showed Guilfoyle boasting about raising no less than $3 million for the event. She was also backstage at the rally, seen celebrating with those closest to the president just before his speech to a crowd that would soon descend violently on the U.S. Capitol.
It is unclear if Guilfoyle has agreed to cooperate since her last botched appearance.
Kushner’s appearance went smoothly according to Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat who serves on the probe. Lofgren was mum on details during an appearance on CNN following the meeting but described Kushner as “precise.”
Though she did say Kushner “did not volunteer” anything.
The meeting lasted six hours but Lofgren emphasized that the deposition was not “volatile.”
Fellow Jan. 6 investigator Rep. Elaine Luria told NPR Kushner’s testimony was “helpful.”
“I think that the committee really appreciates hearing information directly from people who have relevant facts about January 6, and the fact that Jared Kushner came as a witness is helpful to building the story of our investigation,” the Virginia Democrat said.
Unlike Ivanka, Kushner was not in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6..
He was heading back to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia while she, according to testimony already provided to the committee, was busy trying to convince her father to say something publicly to soothe the mob attacking the Capitol and threatening to kill Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Pence.
Where Ivanka’s insights into how she soothed her father during the riot are sought after by the committee, it’s likely that investigators asked Kushner about the widely reported role he played telling Trump that he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
Luria said that Kushner’s testimony allowed the committee to “substantiate information” while providing “his own take on different reports on the Jan. 6 attack.”
Republished with permission from Daily Kos.
