House January 6 select committee hears from former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany
Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany appeared Wednesday before the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The panel's chairman, Representative Bennie Thompson, told CBS News on Wednesday afternoon the appearance was virtual and had "been going on all day."
McEnany was serving as a top spokesperson for the Trump White House when hundreds of the former president's supporters stormed the Capitol last January to stop the certification of the 2020 election results. McEnany had also served as an adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign.
The select committee first subpoenaed the Fox News personality in November, instructing her to appear for a deposition and turn over records.
The committee's interest in speaking with her stems in part from "multiple public statements" she made promoting the former president's baseless claims of fraud in the November 2020 election, according to a letter the panel sent McEnany.
The committee also noted in its letter that McEnany was with the former president on January 6 when he traveled to the Ellipse, where he would deliver a speech to supporters urging them to "fight like hell" and "stop the steal."
The letter also pointed to reporting in the book "I Alone Can Fix It" that indicated McEnany "popped in and out" to join Trump as he watched the attack unfold that afternoon.
Thompson said Wednesday the committee has issued about 85 subpoenas, including Trump's allies, former White House officials, campaign aides and individuals involved in the planning of the rally outside the White House before the Capitol building came under siege. Two top Trump allies, former strategist Steve Bannon and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, have been held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas, and the Justice Department has charged Bannon. Both said they are following instructions from Trump, who has claimed executive privilege.
The House select committee, created by Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this year, is investigating the January 6 attack, when thousands of Trump supporters descended on the Capitol as Congress counted the electoral votes, a largely ceremonial final step affirming Mr. Biden's victory. Lawmakers were sent fleeing amid the riot, which led to the deaths of five people and the arrests of hundreds more. Trump, who encouraged his supporters to "walk over" to the Capitol during the Stop the Steal rally, was impeached by the House one week later for inciting the riot but was later acquitted by the Senate.
