OFF-THE-BOOKS

Ex-Press Secretary Tells Capitol Riot Panel: Trump Held ‘Secret Meetings’ Days Before Jan.6

Trump’s ex-press secretary made the intriguing disclosure in an interview with the select committee investigating the Capitol attack.

In the days before the Capitol riot, then-President Donald Trump held off-the-books meetings in the White House with mystery participants, according to his former press secretary Stephanie Grisham. The Guardian reports that Grisham made the intriguing disclosure during an early January interview with the select committee investigating the Capitol attack. Grisham reportedly told the panel that only a small number of aides were made aware of the secret meetings and she saw the former White House chief usher, Timothy Harleth, directing participants upstairs. She reportedly said she wasn’t sure who attended the meetings, but told the panel that Harleth and other Trump aides would know their identities. A spokesperson for the select committee declined to comment on The Guardian’s report, and Harleth didn’t respond to questions. Additionally, the report states that Grisham told the panel that details of any Trump intention to walk to the Capitol on Jan. 6 “would be memorialized” in documents given to the Secret Service.