Liz Cheney (left), Ivanka Trump.Photo: Oliver Contreras-Pool/Getty Images; Riccardo Savi/Getty Images
Republican Rep.Liz Cheneysays the committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riots has “firsthand testimony” thatDonald Trump’s daughter,Ivanka, was among those who attempted to persuade the then-president to condemn thedeadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Speaking to ABC News’This Weekon Sunday, 55-year-old Cheney said the commission has testimony that Trump, 75, was “sitting in the dining room next to the Oval Office, watching the attack. The briefing room at the White House is a mere few steps from the Oval Office.”
“We know as [Trump] was sitting there in the dining room, next to the Oval Office, members of his staff were pleading with him to go on television to tell people to stop,” Cheney, vice chair of the committee, added. “We know [Republican] Leader [Kevin] McCarthy was pleading with him to do that. We know his daughter — we have firsthand testimony — that his daughter Ivanka went in at least twice to ask him to please stop this violence.”
Ivanka wasn’t the only one who attempted to intervene on Jan. 6. Last month, Cheney read aloud a text conversation in which the former president’s eldest son,Donald Trump Jr., begged Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to encourage Trump to take stronger action against the rioters.
Meadows responded to Trump Jr., writing: “I’m pushing it hard. I agree,” Cheney revealed.
In a series of follow-up texts, Trump Jr. continued: “We need an Oval Office address. He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.”
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The texts from Donald Trump Jr. are among a series of messages that Meadows provided to the committee, which show that lawmakers, administration officials, and various Fox News personalities — including Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham — were among those who urged Meadows to level with the president about the attack.
Before the rioting broke out, President Trump had publicly pressured his own vice president, Mike Pence, to somehow use his position to overturn the 2020 election results when Congress met to ratify now-PresidentJoe Biden’s victory on Jan. 6.
Speaking at a rally held shortly before before the mob at the Capitol turned violent, Trump encouraged his supporters to march to where Congress had convened. Though he said they should be peaceful, he also said they needed to “fight like hell” and risked losing their country.
At the Capitol, a swarm of Trump supporters overwhelmed law enforcement and breached the Capitol building, ultimately forcing Pence and other lawmakers to bequickly evacuated and placed under lockdown.
Since leaving office, he has continued to falsely claim the election was “stolen” from him and he recently announced he plans tohold a press conferenceto coincide with the one-year anniversary of the riots. The press conference will coincide with a prayer service being held at the Capitol, to honor the lives lost that day.
source: people.com
