Things are rapidly escalating.
During the Jan. 6 select committee’s first hearing on Thursday (June 9), Republican Rep. Liz Cheney played brief clips of testimony, including testimony given by former Trump White House senior adviser Jared Kushner. Kushner revealed he dismissed threats from then-White House counsel Pat Cipollone and his team that they would resign.
In the recorded deposition, Cheney questions Kushner about whether he was aware of Cipollone’s threats to resign ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
In response, Kushner says he was aware but believed the team and Cipollone were whining.
“I kind of — like I said — my interest at that time was on trying to get as many pardons done,” Kushner testified, adding, that Cipollone and his team “were always saying, ‘Oh we’re going to resign, we’re not going to be here if this happens, if that happens,’ so I kind of took it up to just be whining, to be honest to you.”
But Cheney claimed the threats from Cipollone and his team indicated the seriousness of the situation taking place in Trump’s last days of office, stating that the warning of resignation “requires immediate attention” but was ignored by Kushner and others.
Besides Kushner’s testimony, the hearing also played testimony by former Attorney General Will Barr. Barr reveals he relayed to Trump that claims the election had been rigged were “bullsh*t.”
The hearing also showed prerecorded testimony from Ivanka Trump, who is married to Kushner and served as a senior White House adviser during Trump’s presidency. She told the committee she believed Barr was right.
Thursday’s hearing shows the committee’s attempts to show Trump’s words and actions culminated in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
