WASHINGTON (Washington Insider Magazine) – According to numerous people familiar with the planning, Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a key West Wing official during the Trump administration, is set to testify voluntarily before the House select committee probing the January 6 Capitol assault as early as Thursday.
A committee spokesperson did not reply to an ABC News request for comment on the committee’s intentions to interrogate Kushner, which might be delayed or postponed.
According to insiders, Kushner will testify virtually before the panel.
When the assault on the Capitol started on January 6, Kushner was returning to Washington from Saudi Arabia, where he had tried to put an end to a divide in the Persian Gulf, and he did not come back to the White House once he landed.
Kushner ignored the White House because he feared getting into a “fight” with the president, according to ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl’s book “Betrayal.” Kushner informed a GOP legislator a day after the insurrection that he avoided the White House since he feared getting into a “fight” with the president.
According to Karl, Kushner’s wife Ivanka was also with Trump at the White House that day and sought to persuade him to assist in stopping the violence at the Capitol. In recent weeks, the panel has been talking with Ivanka Trump about whether she will comply with the investigation.
Kushner had a wide range of responsibilities at the White House, including the Middle Eastern peace efforts and the federal coronavirus response, but he stayed away from efforts to reverse the election results.
In text messages acquired by the special committee, Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, suggested to Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that she was in direct contact with Kushner about Trump attorney Sidney Powell, who promoted baseless conspiracy theories regarding voting fraud. According to ABC News, the panel might urge Thomas to voluntarily participate with its inquiry in the coming days.
