The January 6 committee has released transcripts of interviews it conducted with 34 Trump supporters just one day before it will unveil its highly anticipated 800-page final report.
Those 34 interviews were conducted as part of its investigation into the 2021 assault on the Capitol and saw numerous high-profile Trump allies – including Alex Jones, Nick Fuentes, Roger Stone and Charlie Kirk – invoke their Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions.
The transcripts were made public as the publishing of the final report was delayed until this Thursday, and reveal the extent of the committee’s investigation.
According to an executive summary the report is set to find Donald Trump culpable for the 2021 following his election defeat and will accuse him of putting ‘the lives of American lawmakers at risk’ with false claims of widespread voter fraud.
Transcripts of interviews with 34 Trump allies and supporters were released by the January 6 committee on Wednesday
In the 34 interviews many prominent figures avoided answering questions by invoking the Fifth Amendment, allowing them to remain silent
Others that chose not to answer questions included Garrett Ziegler, a former White House aide, and Phil Waldron, a former Army colonel who spread theories about voting machines being defunct.
A transcript of the interview with Alex Jones released on Wednesday revealed that he plead the Fifth nearly 100 times, telling those interviewing again and again: On the advice of my counsel, I’m exerting my Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.’
When asked to spell out his name for the court reporter he told the committee member asking him questions that he was too stressed to be able to do so.
He also told the interviewer asking for his name: ‘You know what my name is. It’s on the record.’
Republican campaign manager Roger Stone would not answer questions pertaining to his name
Alex Jones said he was too ‘stressed’ to be able to spell his name
White supremacist Nick Fuentes, on the other hand, indulged certain questions relating to where he grew up, studied, and lived, but when asked about possible associations with the America First Foundation, Fuentes ‘most respectfully’ refused to answer since doing so ‘might tend to incriminate’ him.
Prominent interviewee subpoenaed by the court was Roger Stone, Republican campaign strategist and longtime friend of Trump, also invoked the Fifth to simple questions such as those asking his name as part of a defensive strategy.
Mike Flynn, retired US Army lieutenant who served as Trump’s first national security advisor, was another of the 34 people interviewed and yet again swiftly used his right to remain silent.
He responded to initial questions examining his military background, including when and where he served.
Mike Flynn, retired US Army lieutenant who served as Trump’s first national security advisor, was another of the 34 people interviewed
Garrett Ziegler, a former White House aide, stopped asking questions when asked how he got his job at the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy
It was when asked about a ‘Cyber Ninjas’ audit in Arizona that Flynn ceased to co-operate. The Cyber Ninjas are a Florida-based firm that commissioned an audit of Arizona’s election.
Audio files obtained by CBS News earlier this week revealed a congressional investigator probed Flynn on whether he was involved in an effort to overturn the 2020 election result and whether he pressured military and intelligence officials to assist.
Garrett Ziegler, a former White House aide, stopped answering questions when asked how he got his job at the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy.
He confirmed that he graduated from St. Louis University in Missouri in 2018 and that his job in the White House was his first.
Ziegler was grilled on how comprehensively he had responded to requests for documents and information by the committee.
He said that he conducted a search based on all of the electronic devices’ he has access to and ‘went through them diligently.’
After Ziegler was grilled by the committee in July he was recorded commenting on how he felt attacked on that occasion and obliged to invoke the Fifth Amendment then too.
‘They see me as a young Christian who they can try to basically scare, right? And so, today was just a lot of saying that I invoke my right to silence,’ Ziegler said.
Charlie Kirk, a founder of conservative student group Turning Point USA, would not confirm that fact during his interview with the committee
Charlie Kirk, a founder of conservative student group Turning Point USA, would not confirm that fact during his interview with the committee.
He was asked about a $60,000 invoice made to him from Donald Trump Jr. and was asked if he was in discussions with Trump staff about appearing at the March for Trump Rally on January 6. He declined to answer those questions.
