Joe Biden’s administration said this week that he would not invoke his presidential authority to stopJared KushnerandIvanka Trumpfrom testifying about thedeadly Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attackin front of the bipartisan congressional committee investigating how it unfolded.
“The president has spoken to the fact that Jan. 6 was one of the darkest days in our country’s history and that we must have a full accounting of what happened to ensure that it never occurs again,” White House spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
“And he’s been quite clear that they posed a unique threat to our democracy and that the constitutional protections of executive privilege should not be used to shield from Congress or the public information about an attack on the Constitution itself,” Bedingfield said.
Bedingfield continued, “So, as a result, the White House has decided not to assert executive privilege over the testimony of Jared Kushner andIvanka Trump.”
Kushner, 41, subsequently testified before the House of Representatives' committee on Thursday, according toBloomberg,NBC NewsandNPR.
Mark Wilson/Getty
Kushner spoke with congressional investigators remotely for six-plus hours, NBC News reported.
Rep. Elaine Luria, a Virginia Democrat on the committee, told NPR that what Kushner shared was “helpful.”
“I think that the committee really appreciates hearing information directly from people who have relevant facts about Jan. 6, and the fact that Jared Kushner came as a witness is helpful to building the story of our investigation,” Luria said, per NPR.
Kushner is the closest aide of former PresidentDonald Trumpto speak with the group. Kushner’s wife, Ivanka, remains in discussions about scheduling her own appearance, the House committee said.
“The expectation is that it will take place. As to when, I can’t tell you right now. I know we are engaging her as a committee,” Chairman Bennie Thompson said Wednesday, per NPR.
Both Kushner and Ivanka, 40, were senior advisers to President Trump, her father. (Reps for both of them did not comment to PEOPLE.)
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Earlier this year, the bipartisan House committee investigating the insurrection requested Ivankaprovide information via a voluntary interview, noting that she “was in direct contact with the former President at key moments on January 6th and that she may have information relevant to other matters critical to the Select Committee’s investigation.”
The committee said they believed Ivanka was in the White House during the attack. There, she repeatedly spoke against the attack at the Capitol, perABC News(thoughshe also faced controversyat the time for calling some of those involved “patriots,” in a since-deleted tweet).
According to ABC News, on the day of the rioting Kushner was returning to Washington, D.C., from Saudi Arabia as part of diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.
source: people.com
