Trump again told Pence that his duty is to reject the Electoral College votes that would formalize Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, leaving the vice president in his ceremonial role in Congress on that day. was not.
According to congressional testimony, Trump told Pence, “You don’t have the courage to make a difficult decision. Even after Trump called him a “wimp,” Pence turned down the demand, issuing a lengthy statement later. concluded that it did not have the power to influence the outcome.
When the call ended, Ivanka Trump turned to retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg and said, “Mike Pence is a good man.”
“Yes, he is,” Kellogg replied.
Now the House committee investigating the riots wants to know what else Ivanka Trump heard and saw that day as she tried to piece together the story of the riots and the former president’s role in instigating them. Many of Trump’s top supporters had made a frantic attempt to persuade him to intervene, and some had directly sought to use his daughter as their conduit.
A colleague of the committee said she hoped to make an appointment soon.
Throughout her time in the White House, Ivanka Trump was noted as a rare voice who could get through her father and speak through bad decisions, though her success was mixed. The former’s first daughter has kept an extraordinarily low profile since her father left office and has distanced herself from him and politics since moving to Florida.
But his closeness with him on January 6 could have given the committee direct access to what Trump was doing during those crucial three hours when his supporters violently stormed the Capitol.
“Ivanka Trump has details in the lead-up to January 6th and the former president’s state of mind as events unfold,” Representative Stephanie Murphy, a member of the panel, D-Fla., told the Associated Press.
It is highly unusual for congressional investigators to target a member of the president’s family, but as his father’s senior adviser, he also had a close perch of power.
Kellogg disclosed exchanges with the committee, but so far Ivanka Trump, who famously protects her image and public profile, has not spoken to the panel.
The answers could have important consequences not only for Donald Trump, who is eyeing a political return in 2024, but for those in the Republican Party who have downplayed their role in the rebellion.
A spokeswoman for Ivanka Trump did not respond to multiple requests for comment. But in a statement released in late January, a representative for her noted that Ivanka Trump did not speak at a rally near the White House, where the then-president urged her supporters to “fight like hell” as Congress Called to certify the 2020 election results. , and added that she still believes “any security breach or disrespect of our law enforcement is unacceptable.”
Committee members hope to get ahead of such vague claims.
Hours after Trump called Pence, Ivanka Trump joined brothers Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and Kimberly Gilfoy at the rally under a large tent to listen to Trump’s speech.
She reportedly told aides that she “decided to participate only because she hoped to placate the president and help keep the event even.”
After Trump’s speech, as rioters began breaking down Capitol Police barriers and breaking windows, the former president tweeted: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what he did to protect our country and our Constitution Should have gone…”
According to court testimony, that tweet added to the anger that incited the crowd.
Back at the White House, as staff gazed in shock at what was happening down Pennsylvania Avenue on television screens stationed throughout the West Wing, Trump’s attention was so elated that he hit a rewind and a few moments to revisit, Stephanie. According to Grisham, a former White House press secretary.
“Look at all the people fighting for me,” said Trump, according to Grisham, who also served as First Lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff. At one point, the president was confused as to why the staff was not as excited as he was to see the unrest erupting.
Kellogg testified that staff wanted the president to take immediate action to address the violence at the Capitol, but Trump refused.
“Is there any POTUS happening? They have to tell the protesters to disperse. Former White House communications officer Alyssa Farah Griffin texted Ben Williamson, an aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
“I’ve been trying for the last 30 minutes. He literally stormed the outer oval to take out the first one. It’s totally insane,” Williamson wrote back.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R.C., then called on Ivanka Trump, requesting that the president “tell the people to leave.”
“We’re working on it,” she replied.
At the time, employees acknowledged that despite the efforts of Meadows, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, and Kellogg, the only person they could meet would be their daughter.
According to testimony, Ivanka Trump made at least two “convincing” attempts to reason with her father, as employees were bombarded with messages from Trump aides to quell the violence.
“Can he make a statement. I saw the tweet. Ask people to leave (Capital),” Fox News host Sean Hannity texted Meadows.
But inside the West Wing, Kellogg strongly recommended that he not ask the president to appear in the press room, where a group of journalists would be waiting for him.
“Apparently, some White House staffers believed that a live unpublished press appearance by the president in the midst of the Capitol Hill violence could have made the situation worse,” the lawmakers said in their letter to Ivanka Trump.
The president eventually agreed to a video statement. Several takes were filmed but not used. According to the committee, in each of the initial takes, he failed to ask the rioters to leave.
The final video was released on Twitter at 4:17 p.m. — nearly two hours after Trump criticized Pence in his initial tweet.
Trump said in the video, “It was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to keep the peace. So go home. We love you, you’re so special.”
Liz Cheney, R-Vyo, the deputy chairman of the House committee that investigated the January 6 uprising, has said it is hard to “imagine a more significant and more serious dereliction of duty” than Trump’s failure to suppress the riots.
Trump’s final words came at 6:01 p.m. that day when he tweeted that the 2020 election was “informally and viciously stripped of the great patriots who have been treated badly and unfairly for so long.”
He finally said, “Go home in love and peace. Always remember this day.”
The committee has been aggressively interviewing witnesses — about 500 so far — and has summoned Meadows and Trump’s personal counsel. They are asking Ivanka Trump to cooperate voluntarily.
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