Jan’s house. 6 committee publishes transcripts of investigation

House committee investigating Jan. On September 6, 2021, the uprising delayed the release of its final report on Wednesday, but provided new details by releasing 34 transcripts of testimony taken during the investigation.

Many of the released transcripts are from lesser-known figures who played behind-the-scenes roles in former President Trump and his allies’ attempt to cancel the 2020 presidential election, although the list includes some of the most high-profile actors such as California. attorney John Eastman, architect of the legal theory adopted by Trump arguing that the vice president can reject electors from certain states.

Nearly all invoked the 5th Amendment at some point in their testimony in response to questions posed by committee members and staff, showing what information the commission was hoping to get and what dots they were trying to connect. For example, the commission asked Trump confidant Roger Stone did he discuss Jan. 6 and strategies heading to this day during December. February 27, 2020 meeting with Trump at the former president’s house in Florida.

Deputy Chairman of the Committee Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) asked Stone if he had ever called Trump on the former president’s personal cell phone. Stone invoked the 5th Amendment. She asked if he considered the violence “justified” on January 6, 2021. He invoked the 5th Amendment again.

Stone even invoked his 5th Amendment rights when asked about his age and address.

The committee wanted to know from Eastman what emails and phone numbers he used to discuss the 2020 election, where he kept any election-related documents, and whether he would provide specific documents, such as the seven-page document he wrote that Rudy Giuliani shared with Georgia legislators during Dec. January 3, 2020 State Senate hearing. Jan’s house. 6 asked if he spoke to state legislators after the 2020 election.

Investigators also asked detailed questions about Eastman’s memo about the vice president’s role in confirming the election results. They noted that he discussed his memo in media interviews with the permission of the president, although he referred to the 5th amendment in a conversation with investigators.

Eastman was the only named person other than Trump that the committee referred to the Justice Department in connection with potential criminal charges stemming from the commission’s investigation.

former National security adviser Michael Flynn invoked the 5th Amendment on nearly every issue, including what his role is in planning and developing a strategy to find evidence of fraud after the 2020 election.

However, Flynn responded when asked if he knew the reason Trump pardoned him.

“Because I think he saw my whole case as a travesty of justice,” Flynn said.

former Trump Attorney Jenna Ellis referred to No. 5 when asked about a number of individuals who were included in her privilege log of material she withheld from the committee, including documents related to former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and adviser Steve Bannon.

Ellis did answer questions about the efforts she made to obtain materials to comply with the subpoena, but declined to respond to more detailed follow-up. For example, she invoked her 5th Amendment entitlement when asked why, out of the 350 text messages she exchanged with Meadows between November and June 2018, Jan. 3, 2020, and Jan. On December 13, 2021, her privilege log only listed 35 of them.

Ellis gave the committee a number of affidavits and statements related to allegations of election fraud, but pleaded the 5th when asked if she or anyone else associated with Trump attempted to investigate the allegations in those documents. She also declined to answer the committee’s questions about whether a fake voter list was planned to be created as early as September 2020.

Among the lesser-known individuals whose transcript was made public was a former White House employee. Garret Zieglerwho acted as a conduit for people trying to prove fraud after the 2020 election and his boss, former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro.

Ziegler invoked the 5th Amendment in response to almost every question asked by the committee, including questions about the so-called Green Bay cleanup, a procedural strategy devised by Navarro and Bannon to engage Republican members of Congress in a lengthy debate about the validity of January 1 election results in certain states. September 6, 2021 to force state legislators to revise the results and possibly hand the election over to Trump.

Wednesday’s release is just one of more than 1,000 testimonies from the committee’s 18-month investigation, which concludes when the final report is released. Republicans are not expected to reconstitute the committee when they take control of the House of Representatives on Jan. 1. 3.

The final report, which the committee intends to release Thursday, is expected to include more evidence that the committee has presented in nine public hearings this year, as well as a detailed description of the scheme being promoted by Trump and his allies to overthrow the law. 2020 presidential election results using state legislatures and courts.

Times staff member Freddie Brewster contributed to this report.