Several members of former President Donald Trump's inner circle made virtual appearances at Thursday night's House Jan. 6 committee hearing. During the prime-time televised hearing, panel members play snippets of interviews with Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner, former Attorney General William Barr, campaign spokesman Jason Miller, and other officials.
Barr was shown telling Jan. 6 committee investigators that he repeatedly told Trump there was no evidence to support his contention the election was stolen from him and that his allegations about vote fraud were "crazy stuff." Nevertheless, Barr said, Trump's claims "were made in such a sessional way that they obviously were influencing a lot of people, members of the public."
Ivanka Trump, who was one of Trump's White House advisers, told panel investigators that Barr's statements "affected my perspective. I respect Attorney General Barr, so I accepted what he said."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Committee vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) also showed a Jan. 7, 2021, text exchange between Fox News host Sean Hannity and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany in which they agreed that Trump had to be kept away from "crazy people" and stop talking about the election. "The White House staff knew that President Trump was willing to entertain and use conspiracy theories to achieve his ends," Cheney said. "They knew that President Donald Trump was too dangerous to be left alone, at least until he left office on Jan. 20."
The clip of testimony from Kushner, another one of Trump's White House advisers, was used to demonstrate that while "some in the White House took responsible steps to try to prevent Jan. 6" and "others egged the president on," Cheney said, "others who could have acted refused to do so." White House counsel Pat Cipollone was placed in the first category for his repeated threats to resign if Trump broke the law, and Kushner was shown dismissing those threats as "whining," presumably placing him in the third category.
-
Testosterone therapy in women highlights the lack of women’s health researchThe explainer There is no FDA-approved testosterone product for women
-
Magazine solutions - November 7, 2025Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - November 7, 2025
-
Magazine printables - November 7, 2025Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - November 7, 2025
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
