Mark Short, who served as chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, testified last week to a federal grand jury in Washington. It investigates the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the highest-profile Trump administration official to date. Cooperated with the Justice Department’s extensive investigation into the events leading up to the attack.
Subpoenaed by federal prosecutors, Mr. Short spent two to three hours in front of a grand jury on Friday, two people familiar with the matter said. His appearance was before the grand jury First reported by ABC News.
Mr. Short’s appearance is the latest sign that the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into the events surrounding and leading up to the January 6 events is intensifying. Emerging questions Mr. About the department’s rush to investigate Trump’s possible criminal liability.
Mr. to the grand jury. It’s unclear what Short said or what questions prosecutors may have asked him. But he previously gave a recorded and transcribed interview to the House Select Committee in which Mr. As part of an effort to retain Trump, Mr. In order to put pressure on Pence, Mr. He described Trump’s campaign. in office.
Mr. Short more Jan. 5, 2021 on Mr. Pence told a leading Secret Service agent. Mr. Trump is going to publicly turn on Mr. Pence, creating a security risk. On the day of the Capitol attack, some of the mob of Trump supporters storming the Capitol chanted, “Hang Mike Pence!” They chanted. Mr. Trump responded approvingly to the chantsAccording to testimony gathered by a House committee, Mr. Pence effectively said he deserved it.
Mr. Short’s grand jury appearance is the first time a person with first-hand knowledge of what happened inside the White House in the tumultuous days leading up to Jan. 6 has cooperated with federal prosecutors.
Until now, the only pro-Trump person — aside from the rioters on the ground at the Capitol — is the “Stop the Steel” organizer known to have testified before a grand jury investigating the events of January 6. Ali Alexander.
Joseph R. In the 2020 election in swing states won by Biden Jr., Mr. Grand jury subpoenas have been issued to several people involved in the scheme to produce false voter registration plates claiming that Trump had won.
The Justice Department also seized electronic devices from two attorneys linked to the bogus voter scheme: John EastmanThe idea was developed and promoted by Mr. Trump’s outside counsel and former Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clarke, helped write the letter falsely claiming the department had evidence of election fraud in Georgia.
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