- The Jan. 6 congressional committee has begun interviewing Capitol riot defendants, according to Politico.
- The outlet reported that one defendant had knowledge of contacts between state officials and Trump allies.
- Investigators reportedly asked about who organized travel arrangements to DC for January 6.
The January 6 committee, comprised of Congressional investigators looking into the Capitol attack, interviewed a Capitol riot defendant who claims to have knowledge of contacts between state-level GOP officials who worked with former President Donald Trump and his associates to try and overturn the 2020 election, according to Politico.
The committee interviewed the unnamed defendant twice in the last week, as he discussed contacts between Republican officials in a battleground state that Trump lost and the former president’s allies ahead of the January 6 riot, the outlet reported.
The committee is examining whether rioters who breached the Capitol coordinated with Republican officials ahead of the siege.
According to Politico, the defendant voluntarily agreed to talk with congressional investigators. At least three convicted rioters have cooperated or indicated their willingness to speak with lawmakers. The defendant is also one of the nearly 700 Capitol riot defendants who have been charged in connection to the siege.
A source familiar with the interviews told the outlet that the committee invited the defendant back for a second interview after he spoke about his knowledge of the officials’ pre-January 6 communications. Investigators reportedly asked the defendant questions about who helped organize travel to and from Washington, DC, ahead of the rally, and information regarding the preparation of legal affidavits to bolster Trump’s bogus voter fraud claims.
The outlet declined to publish the defendant’s name or state out of fear of retaliation. But the cooperation could signal a wave of defendants who choose to assist the government in the coming weeks.
More than 100 people have already pleaded guilty in connection to the attack.
The convicted rioters’ testimonies are part of more than 150 interviews the committee has conducted in recent weeks as it examines Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 elections results, which saw him lose the presidency to President Joe Biden.
The committee is also going after testimony from organizers who planned the January 6 pro-Trump rally ahead of the insurrection, as well as from Department of Justice officials who were pushed by Trump to invalidate his loss. Investigators have also subpoenaed top Trump aides, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows and Steve Bannon.
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