Ivanka Trump, the daughter of former President Donald Trump (who also served as one of his principal advisers in the White House), is reportedly in negotiations to cooperate with the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building.
It is unclear how far along the discussions are, or whether they will result in her full cooperation. According to reporting from The New York Times, it’s also possible that Ivanka Trump’s negotiations are a stalling tactic, and that she actually has no intention of cooperating.
But according to sources with knowledge of her thinking on the matter, the former president’s daughter is in talks with the January 6 commission because she wants to avoid the possibility of being subpoenaed. If she does receive a subpoena order to testify, her failure to abide by that order could result in her being found in contempt of Congress, and possible charges from the Department of Justice.
Those same sources suggested that Ivanka Trump wouldn’t pursue any action without her father knowing about it first.
Ivanka Trump is in “discussions with the committee to voluntarily appear for an interview,” her spokesperson said.
Last month, the select committee requested that Ivanka Trump testify before them and hand over documents related to the Capitol attack. The commission views her testimony as critical in furthering their understanding of the former president’s thinking while the attack was unfolding.
Donald Trump spent several hours without taking any action to quell the attack. According to members of the January 6 commission, Trump was watching the events unfold on television in the White House as they were happening.
Ivanka Trump’s proximity to her father that day could give the January 6 commission insight into his thoughts and motivations while the attack was taking place.
“Given Ms. Trump’s presence in the White House on January 6th, the Select Committee is seeking her knowledge about the former President’s actions related to the deployment of the National Guard to respond to the violence,” the January 6 commission wrote in a press release explaining its request.
In response to the news that Ivanka Trump had been asked to testify, Donald Trump condemned the January 6 committee, calling the request, which was completely voluntary, “very unfair” to his daughter. Trump also described the January 6 committee as being full of “vicious people.”
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