Trump Jr. reportedly meets with Jan. 6 panel

Ex-president’s eldest son is interviewed about the events surrounding Capitol attack, sources say.

WASHINGTON — The oldest son of former President Trump has met with the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The interview Tuesday with Donald Trump Jr. comes as the bipartisan House committee moves closer to the former president’s inner circle of family members and advisors.

The younger Trump is probably of interest to the committee due to his proximity to his father on the day of the attack. Trump Jr. was seen backstage at the rally on the White House Ellipse that took place shortly before supporters of the thenpresident marched to the Capitol and broke in to the building.

Several videos posted on social media at the time of the Jan. 6 attack show Trump Jr. with Kimberly Guilfoyle — then his girlfriend, now his fiancee — and other members of his family as his father prepared to make a speech that investigators believe rallied supporters to act violently that day.

The House committee has also released Jan. 6 text messages in which Trump Jr. implored White House aides to get his father to forcefully condemn the riot.

“We need an Oval address. He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand,” Trump Jr. wrote to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Trump Jr. is one of nearly 1,000 witnesses the committee has interviewed as it works to compile a record of the worst attack on the Capitol in more than two centuries. He is the second of Trump’s children known to have spoken to the committee; sister Ivanka Trump sat down with lawmakers for eight hours in early April. Her husband, former Trump White House aide Jared Kushner, has also been interviewed by the committee.

Trump Jr. is not new to congressional investigations, having testified at least three times in House and Senate investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The two people who confirmed Trump Jr.’s interview with the Jan. 6 committee spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the private session.