In April and May of 2022, Donald Trump Jr, son of former President Donald Trump, and his fiancé Kimberly Guilfoyle testified before the House Select Jan. 6 Committee. The committee published transcripts of their testimony on Tuesday.
Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle, who served as advisers to the president during the Jan. 6, 2021, protest and breach of the Capitol, were questioned about the events preceding and following what the committee termed an “attempted insurrection.”
According to transcripts, as the breach of the Capitol building was unfolding, Trump Jr. contacted then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to urge him to have the president “condemn this s***.”
Reportedly, when Trump Jr. was asked why he didn’t contact his father directly, he responded by saying it was because his father “doesn’t text.”
Trump Jr. reportedly testified he did not know who was spurring on the crowd to enter the Capitol building, but noted he wouldn’t be surprised if there were “agitators” in the crowd, according to the Washington Examiner.
“I had watched, you know, violence for the prior 18 months all over the country, all of these things done by the other side,” Trump Jr. testified. “So it wouldn’t surprise me if there were people in this group functioning as agitators, you know, et cetera. You know, again, when you’ve been through what I’ve been through, you can be a cynic on some of these things.”
The committee grilled Guilfoyle. Her 320 pages of testimony show Committee members scrutinizing the fee she received for speaking at the “Save America” rally that preceded the riot.
Guilfoyle noted that “she never solicited her $60,000 fee” and that the remuneration was “customary for events she did associated with Turning Point Action,” according to the Examiner.
According to testimony records, regarding her speaker fee, Guilfoyle texted Trump campaign deputy Caroline Wren: “You will pay us that’s the deal, so don’t even think about it. You will send the funds as promised.”
Guilfoyle also noted that the mood in Trump’s orbit on Jan. 6 was “tense,” and accusations were flying in the aftermath of the protest.
“Think of it like, you know, turf wars and two girls arguing over who’s running this. I’m running this. So here’s the list. I bet you, you leaked the list. You did this and that,” Guilfoyle said. “And it was just not pleasant for anybody to deal with.”
The House Select Jan. 6 Committee has officially concluded its investigation. The result: four reprimands to Republican lawmakers who chose not to comply with the committee’s subpoenas to testify and a recommendation to the Department of Justice that former President Donald Trump be prosecuted on four charges.
