Former White House senior advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have been subpoenaed by special counsel Jack Smith as part of the federal investigation into the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots. The subpoenas were issued weeks after former Vice President Mike Pence was also subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury.
Ivanka, the daughter of former President Donald Trump, and her husband, Jared, have previously been questioned by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee about the events of that day. The committee recommended in December that the Department of Justice charge the former president. Portions of both Ivanka and Jared’s testimonies were later publicly televised, with Ivanka’s testimony garnering particular attention in the headlines.
During the first day of the public hearings, Ivanka’s pre-recorded testimony was played by the committee, where she “accepted” that her father had lost to Joe Biden as per the election results.
She attributed her acceptance to former Attorney General Bill Barr, who, in his testimony, had called out Trump’s false claims of a stolen election. According to Ivanka, Barr had explained the election results to her. His opinion had “affected” her perspective, which she “respected.”
Yet, despite the election results being public information, the former president has contested that his daughter didn’t have any knowledge of them. He wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, “Ivanka Trump was not involved in looking at, or studying, Election results. She had long since checked out and was, in my opinion, only trying to be respectful to Bill Barr and his position as Attorney General (he sucked!).”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has been running a distinct investigation into the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when an irate mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol while Congress was convening to certify President Biden’s victory. The violent mob had gathered at the Capitol after a “Stop the Steal” rally hosted by Trump, vandalized congressional offices, causing the lawmakers to evacuate the premises.
During the riots, one Capitol police officer died after being attacked by the mob, while several others suffered severe injuries. Attorney General Merrick Garland has termed the DOJ’s investigation of the Jan. 6 events as the “most wide-ranging investigation in its history.”
In a July 2022 interview, Garland emphasized that the DOJ would take action against anyone who was involved in criminal activities while attempting to obstruct the legitimate transfer of power from one administration to the next.
According to a report by The New York Times in September, the DOJ had issued around 40 subpoenas to former aides and campaign staffers of Trump, including Bernard Kerik, former New York City Police Commissioner, and Dan Scavino, who served as the White House deputy chief of staff for communications and social media director.
Despite the multiple criminal, congressional, and civil inquiries, Trump, his family, and supporters have consistently refuted allegations of wrongdoing. As of now, no charges have been filed against the former president.