Ivanka Trump testifies for eight hours before Jan. 6 committee

This week saw cooperation from members of the inner circle of former President Donald Trump. The January 6 congressional committee investigating the Capitol riots obtained testimony from the former president’s daughter Ivanka Trump.

Ms. Trump testified before the January 6 committee Tuesday regarding her knowledge of the events that transpired behind the scenes and leading up to the Capitol insurrection. The former first daughter and White House adviser’s testimony, which was done virtually, lasted for eight hours.

The committee’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, told reporters that Ms. Trump was answering the questions being asked of her during the hearing. Ms. Trump was in the West Wing at the time of the insurrection. Previous reports revealed that she attempted to convince her father to call off the riots as many pleaded with her to do so, but did not succeed.

Thompson noted that Ms. Trump was not subpoenaed by the panel compared to what the committee had to do when it came to the former president’s close allies. Some have refused to testify and have been criminally referred to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate. Thompson said Ms. Trump voluntarily testified before the committee.

While Ms. Trump was not subpoenaed to testify, the panel sent the former White House adviser a letter saying that the committee had evidence that Ms. Trump was in direct contact with her father on January 6.

Ms. Trump’s testimony comes five days after her husband, former White House adviser Jared Kushner, also appeared before the committee to testify, as the first member of the Trump family to do so. At the time, Kushner would also be the highest-ranking Trump administration official to offer testimony regarding January 6.

A source said that Kushner’s testimony lasted for six hours and that Kushner voluntarily offered testimony before the committee. The source said Kushner was cooperative and friendly and that he himself spoke rather than having his attorneys speak on his behalf.

Rep. Elaine Luria, who serves on the congressional committee, told MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace that Kushner “was able to voluntarily provide information for us to verify, substantiate, provide his own take on this different reporting.”