Source: Ivanka Trump to testify before Jan. 6 panel

By Mary Clare Jalonick, Lisa Mascaro and Farnoush Amiri | Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Ivanka Trump, former President Donald Trump’s daughter and among those closest to him during the insurrection at the Capitol, is set to testify Tuesday before the Jan. 6 committee, according to three people familiar with the situation.

Trump’s daughter, who was with her father much of that day, is expected to speak to the committee virtually, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss it.

Ivanka Trump is one of more than 800 witnesses the committee has interviewed as it works to compile a record of the attack, the worst on the Capitol in more than two centuries. She the first of Trump’s children known to speak to the committee and one of the closest people to her father.

Her decision to cooperate is significant for the committee, which has been trying to secure an interview with her since late January. It comes less than a week after her husband, Jared Kushner, testified to the nine-member panel in a virtual meeting that lasted more than six hours. Members of the committee said his testimony was helpful and are hoping to further fill in the gaps with her help.

Her testimony, like others before the committee, will be private. The panel is using the interviews to compile a comprehensive record and will begin to release information in the coming months as it holds public hearings and releases a series of reports on the insurrection.

Lawmakers have said they want to discuss what Ivanka Trump knew about her father’s efforts, including a telephone call they say she witnessed, to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject Joe Biden’s 2020 election win as part of his ceremonial role overseeing the electoral count. Pence rejected those efforts.

The committee is also interested in any concerns she may have heard from Pence’s staff, members of Congress and the White House counsel’s office about Trump’s pressure on Pence.

Ivanka Trump’s cooperation stands in contrast with some of her father’s other top advisers, several of whom have refused to cooperate as the former president has fought the probe. Trump has tried to exert executive privilege over documents and interviews, but in many cases has been overruled by courts or Biden, who has that authority as the sitting president.

The House is expected to vote this week to recommend contempt charges for Trump advisers Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino, both of whom the committee says have been uncooperative. The committee previously voted to recommend contempt charges against longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon, who defied a congressional subpoena, and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who ceased cooperating with the panel.

Bannon was later indicted by a federal grand jury and is awaiting prosecution by the Justice Department. The Justice Department has not taken any action against Meadows.
Other witnesses who are still close to the former president — and several who were in the White House that day — have declined to answer the committee’s questions.