Democrat Elaine Luria, a member of the selection committee, confirmed that Kouchner appeared before the committee “voluntarily”, although he did not give details of what he said. “He was able to voluntarily provide us with information to verify, to document, to give his own opinion on this different report,” Luria told MSNBC. “So it was very valuable for us to have the opportunity to talk to him.” Kouchner appeared almost entirely before investigators and spoke with the commission’s adviser, two sources told the Guardian. A spokesman for the Jan. 6 commission declined to comment on Kouchner’s testimony. Kouchner is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, and served as a senior adviser to the former president. However, Kouchner was not in the White House on January 6 as the Capitol attack unfolded as he was returning to Washington after a trip to Saudi Arabia. A source said before Kouchner’s interview that investigators planned to ask him about a message sent by Ginny Thomas, a conservative activist who is married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in the weeks following the election. The Washington Post and CBS News reported last week that Thomas sent a message to Mark Mendows, Trump’s former chief of staff, on November 13 that appeared to refer to Kouchner. “Just sent to yr gmail an email I sent to Jared this p. Sidney Powell and improved coordination will now help the cavalry come and expose the fraud and save America,” Thomas wrote. Kouchner may also have had questions from the commission about Trump’s efforts to spread baseless allegations of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election. to tell Trump subtly that he lost the election to Joe Biden. The White House has said Biden will not seek executive power over Kouchner’s testimony, allowing him to speak to the committee about talks he may have had with Trump in the days and weeks leading up to the Capitol attack. “The president spoke about the fact that January 6 was one of the darkest days in the history of our country and that we must have a full account of what happened to ensure that it never happens again,” said the White House communications director. Kate Bedingfield. he said on Tuesday. “As a result, the White House has decided not to claim executive power over the testimony of Jared Kouchner and Ivanka Trump.” Asked if Biden’s decision had been notified to Kouchner’s team, Bedingfield said: “I will not talk about private communication between our lawyers and his.” Ivanka Trump said she was in talks to appear before the commission voluntarily, after the Guardian said the commission was considering issuing a summons to force her to testify. In a January letter to Trump, Thompson said the commission wanted to ask her about what she saw at the Oval Office on January 6. According to the testimony of Keith Kellogg, Mike Pence’s former national security adviser, Trump witnessed a conversation in which her father pressured the vice president to overturn the election results. Kellogg also testified that Trump made many efforts to persuade her father to take action to quell the violence at the Capitol. Thomson called for Trump’s “voluntary cooperation” with the commission, saying: “We respect your privacy and our questions will be limited to issues related to January 6, the activities that contributed or influenced the events of January 6 and the role you in the White House at that time. “ Thompson initially suggested that Trump speak to the committee on February 3 or 4, but those dates came and went without any progress. It remains unclear when Trump may testify or whether he will provide substantive information to the commission. Hugo Lowell contributed to this report
