Federal prosecutors investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results have questioned his son-in-law, Jared Kushner on Thursday, among other witnesses including Alyssa Farah Griffin, the former White House director of strategic communications, and Hope Hicks, the former White House communications director, to see if the former president acknowledged he had lost. Prosecutors’ inquiry about Trump’s private knowledge of the election results may determine whether US Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith brings charges against the ex-president regarding his interference with the results of the 2020 election. The Associated Press has the story:
Jan. 6 case: Jared Kushner, Hope Hicks testify
Newslooks- (AP)
Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was among several witnesses testified on Thursday before a grand jury about the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Testifying at a federal courthouse in Washington last month, Kushner, a former White House adviser to Trump, said it was his impression Trump truly believed the 2020 election was stolen, the Times reported, citing a person briefed on the matter.
Special Counsel Jack Smith was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland last November to take over two Justice Department investigations involving Trump.
In one case, Trump was indicted over his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House in January 2021. He pleaded not guilty. The second is an investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 U.S. election that the Republican Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
A spokesperson for Smith’s office declined to comment on the New York Times report. A representative for Kushner could not immediately be reached for comment.
During his testimony, the former president’s son-in-law maintained that Trump believed the election was stolen, a source briefed on the matter said.
Other people close to Trump, including Alyssa Farah Griffin, the former White House director of strategic communications, and Hope Hicks, the former White House communications director, were questioned as well.
Throughout a series of congressional hearings by the House Select Committee on the January 6th Attack, members of Congress provided the public with witness testimony that allies of Trump informed him multiple times he lost the election.
Despite this, the ex-president maintained he won and purported lies of voter and election fraud.
A baseless narrative of election fraud fueled supporters of Trump who stormed the Capitol building on 6 January 2021, interrupting the certification of the election results and assaulting dozens of law enforcement officers.
It is unclear what charges federal prosecutors could bring against Trump, should they decide to, but the House Select Committee referred several possible charges to the Justice Department last year, including inciting an insurrection and obstructing an act of Congress.
Trump is already facing federal charges brought by Smith regarding his alleged mishandling of classified documents. He also faces charges in New York related to an alleged hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
He also is facing an investigation in Georgia by Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis regarding his alleged efforts to overturn his election loss in that state.
Trump, the front-runner in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, faces other legal problems. Prosecutors in New York City charged him in April in a case involving an alleged 2016 hush-money payment to a porn star.
Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that he won the 2020 election and that Biden’s win resulted from fraud. Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a failed bid to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s win.
