Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump are subpoenaed
Former President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner have been subpoenaed by the special counsel to testify before a federal grand jury about Trump's efforts to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election and his role in a pro-Trump mob's attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to two people briefed on the matter.
The decision by the special counsel, Jack Smith, to subpoena Ivanka Trump and Kushner underscores how deeply into the former president's inner circle Smith is reaching, and is the latest sign that no potential high-level witness is off-limits.
The disclosure about the subpoena comes two weeks after it was revealed that Smith had subpoenaed former Vice President Mike Pence to testify before the grand jury. Pence plans to fight the subpoena, invoking his role as the president of the Senate to argue that it violates the “speech or debate” clause of the Constitution.
It is unclear whether Donald Trump will seek to block his daughter and son-in-law from testifying on the grounds of executive privilege, as he has tried with some other witnesses.
Both of them served as White House officials in the Trump administration. Donald Trump declined to try to stop them from testifying before the House special committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack and what led to it.
An aide to Ivanka Trump and Kushner did not respond to a request for comment. Josh Stueve, a spokesperson for Smith, declined to comment. Aides to Donald Trump did not respond to a request for comment.
Ivanka Trump was in the Oval Office on Jan. 6 as her father placed a late-morning call to Pence to pressure him to block or delay congressional certification of the Electoral College results documenting Joe Biden's victory. As president of the Senate, Pence, who rejected Trump's demands, was to serve in a ceremonial role overseeing the process that day.
Ivanka Trump also accompanied her father to the rally of his supporters at the Ellipse near the White House.
Hundreds of his supporters moved from there to the Capitol, where they attacked the building, some chanting, “Hang Mike Pence!” for his refusal to do what Donald Trump wished.
Kushner returned from the Middle East that day, ultimately going to the White House after the pro-Trump mob had been rioting for hours.
Both he and his wife were involved in efforts to get Donald Trump to tell the rioters to go home, and then to commit to a peaceful transfer of power to Biden.
Both testified before the Jan. 6 House select committee, appearing for videotaped interviews in which both provided memories about the day. The committee, in turn, repeatedly played clips of their testimony at some of its public hearings.
One clip that got considerable attention showed Ivanka Trump making clear that she accepted Attorney General William Barr's declaration that there was no evidence of widespread fraud in the election, despite Donald Trump's repeated claims otherwise.
Donald Trump was infuriated by the clips and what was said in them, according to people in contact with him.
Since then, Kushner and Ivanka Trump, who relocated with their three children to Florida after they left the White House, have maintained family contact with the former president.
But though Kushner appeared at Donald Trump's campaign kickoff in November, Ivanka Trump declined and put out a statement saying she would not be involved in her father's campaign this time.
Both were intimately involved in his 2016 race before going to work at the White House.
In December, Donald Trump posted on his social media site, Truth Social, that he did not want them to be involved in his third campaign.
“Contrary to Fake News reporting, I never asked Jared or Ivanka to be part of the 2024 campaign for president and, in fact, specifically asked them not to do it,” he wrote, going on to say the campaign would be “too mean and nasty.”
“There has never been anything like this `ride' before, and they should not be further subjected to it,” he added.
ORLAND0, FLA. » A central Florida television journalist and a little girl were fatally shot Wednesday afternoon near the scene of a fatal shooting from earlier in the day, authorities said.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said during a news conference that authorities detained Keith Melvin Moses, 19, who they believe is responsible for both shootings in the Orlando-area neighborhood.
Besides the Spectrum News 13 journalist and the 9-year-old girl, a TV crew member and the girl's mother were wounded during the second shooting. They were in critical condition at a hospital.
“I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and our media partners,” Mina told a room full of reporters.
“I work closely with all of you and know many of you and know the very difficult job that you do and also the very important job that you do for our community and for law enforcement. No one in our community — not a mother, not a 9-year-old and certainly not news professionals — should become the victim of gun violence in our community.”
Mina said they don't have a motive for the shootings.
“So the suspect is not saying much right now,” Mina said. “It is unclear if he knew they were news media or not. We're still trying to work all that out.”
Mina said the News 13 vehicle did not look like a typical news van with TV station markings.
This image released by the Orange County, Fla., Sheriff's Office shows Keith Melvin Moses, who was detained after a television reporter and a little girl were fatally shot Wednesday.
Deputies initially responded to the Pine Hills area, just northwest of Orlando, on Wednesday morning after reports of a woman in her 20s being shot.
Moses “was an acquaintance of the woman this morning, but as far as we know, had no connection to the reporters and no connection to the mother and the 9-year-old,” Mina said.
According to witnesses, a man approached the news vehicle later Wednesday and opened fire, hitting the two reporters. The man then walked to a nearby home and shot the mother and daughter.
WFTV crews, who also were reporting on the morning shooting, tried to give medical aid to the Spectrum 13 journalists.
Mina said Moses already faces a murder charge for the initial victim, and charges are expected soon for the other four victims. Moses' criminal history includes gun charges, as well as aggravated battery, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and grand theft offenses, the sheriff said.
“Our hearts go out to the family of the journalist killed today and the crew member injured in Orange County, Florida, as well as the whole Spectrum News team,” White House press secretary Karine JeanPierre said on Twitter.
Spectrum News 13 was not identifying the crew members who were involved in the shooting, according to a story on the TV station's website.
“Please, please, say a prayer tonight for our coworker who is in critical condition. And while you're at it, please say a prayer for every victim of gun violence in this country,” Spectrum 13 journalist Celeste Springer said during her live on-air report.
Worldwide 40 journalists were reported killed last year, plus two this year before Wednesday, said the Committee to Protect Journalists. Only one of those was in the United States.
Jeff German, who covered politics and corruption for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was found dead outside of his home in September after being stabbed multiple times. Former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, who had been a frequent subject of German's reporting, has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.
In 2015, Virginia reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were shot and killed during their live TV broadcast for CBS affiliate WDBJ7. The suspect, a former reporter for the TV station, died by suicide.