Ivanka Trump.Photo: ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty
Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Democratic chairman of the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021,attack on the U.S. Capitol, said this week thatIvanka Trumphelped “fill in a lot of the gaps” with hertestimony in Aprilabout the role her father, former PresidentDonald Trump, played in the insurrection.
“There were questions asked about what was she doing at the time that the insurrection was occurring at the Capitol, and she told us,“Thompson told CNNof the president’s older daughter, who was also a top aide in his White House.
The committee investigators “asked certain questions about her awareness of what her father was doing. She told us,” Thompson said.
Ivanka, 40, was reportedly forthcoming — and didn’t invoke the Fifth Amendment or executive privilege like some other Trump associates and administration officials — during her eight-hour, remote appearance before the committee on April 5. (A spokeswoman for her did not respond to a previous request for comment about her testimony.)
Thompson told CNN that Ivanka and her husband,Jared Kushner, who also served in the Trump White House and met with the committee in March, did not testify against the former president or give away any “trade secrets” but did corroborate the testimony of other witnesses who said President Trump was reluctant to intervene to stop his supporters rioting at the Capitol.
Ivanka Trump at an election night party.Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty
“They kinda supported the fact that the president was told he had to do something to stop the January 6 insurrection. That he had to be public with it; he had to be direct,” Thompson said in his interview with CNN. “So in that respect … we have been able to systematically, with our depositions and interviewing of other witnesses, we’ve been able to fill in a lot of the gaps.”
The president’s eldest son,Donald Trump Jr., is expected to testify before the Jan. 6 committee,according toThe New York Times. Hisfiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle,gave testimonyto investigators in April.
Others in Trump’s inner circle, who are not related to him, have refused to cooperate with the panel. Former Trump White House adviserSteve Bannon, Chief of StaffMark Meadows, communications aide Dan Scavino and trade adviser Peter Navarro have beenheld in contempt of Congressfor defying subpoenas, which compelled them to cooperate with the investigation surrounding the attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
Thompson told CNN this week that the cooperation of Trump family members was “suspicious” when the others cited executive privilege for their reasons not to testify and now face legal ramifications.
Donald Trump (left) and Ivanka Trump.Ivanka Trump/Twitter
Thompson said he didn’t know whether members of the Trump family sought permission from the former president to appear before the committee.
“I just know that if the children went and the others didn’t because he told them not to go, based on their own accounting, that’s just suspicious,” Thompson continued. “I think it’s ironic that he would tell some people not to come and they follow his direction and get held in contempt of Congress,” while his children do the opposite. “So, I mean, that’s kind of who he is.”
source: people.com
