With members of former President Donald Trump’s family becoming implicated in efforts to overturn the 2020 elections and the January 6 insurrection, the congressional committee is making more progress in its probe regarding the riots. This week, Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., spoke with the committee in a meeting that lasted “several hours.”
Trump Jr. reportedly testified before the January 6 committee in a meeting that lasted hours this week, according to Politico and other outlets. Sources told Politico that the interview, which was conducted virtually, lasted “several hours.”
Trump Jr. is the latest member of the Trump family to speak with the congressional committee, following his fiance Kimberly Guilfoyle, sister and White House adviser Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner. The son of the former president apparently did not invoke the Fifth Amendment in his interview with the panel.
The interview also comes as Trump Jr. was revealed to have suggested ways to overturn the 2020 elections before Joe Biden was ultimately projected the winner in his text messages to Mark Meadows. When the Capitol insurrection took place, Trump Jr. texted Meadows to tell his father to condemn the riots, noting that simply sharing a post on Twitter is not enough.
The committee’s investigation is closing in on the former president, and legal filings have suggested that right-wing militia groups had an intermediary to Trump on January 6, 2021. This has raised questions among observers about the former president’s inner circle on the day of the riots.
MSNBC host Chris Hayes cited a DOJ filing on Oath Keeper member William Todd Wilson, where the Justice Department alleged that Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes – who had access to Trump’s inner circle – convened Wilson and other members to the Phoenix Hotel, where Rhodes apparently called an unnamed individual.
Wilson apparently overheard Rhodes asking the individual in question to tell Trump to call on groups such as the Oath Keepers to use force in opposing the transfer of power. However, according to the filing, the individual rejected Rhodes’ request to speak to Trump directly. After the call, Rhodes apparently told the group that he wanted to fight.
“So if Rhodes truly was on the phone with someone close to Trump, imploring the president to tell far-right extremist groups to oppose the transfer of power by force, that’s a pretty big deal,” said Hayes.