Yesterday's release of January 6 testimony didn’t go well for Donald Trump Jr. To the surprise of no one, the former president’s son did not come across as the most astute of advisors.
For one thing, Trump Jr said that he did not know what happened to some $240 million raised to fight his father’s 2020 presidential election loss, the Independent reported. To hear him tell it, Trump Jr. was out of the loop.
“During one point in Mr. Trump Jr’s testimony, an interviewer noted that the Trump campaign raised about $250m to fight the election results, but only used $10m in litigation,” the Independent reported. “Asked if he knew where the rest of the money went, Mr. Trump Jr replied: ‘I do not.’"
“As for whether he had any conversations with his father about what happened to the rest of the money raised, he said: ‘Not that I recall.’”
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In another part of the transcript, Trump Jr. expressed doubt that he was the author of his own texts, according to reporting at Yahoo. Here’s how that was described.
“In one notable excerpt from the committee’s interview with Donald Trump Jr., he went into more detail about a text he sent to then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows asking him to pressure his father to speak out against the violence underway at the Capitol.
“Donald Trump Jr. confirmed that he sent those texts but added, “it doesn’t sound like me. ... I imagine I cut and paste it from somewhere.”
When asked why he didn’t reach out to Donald Trump directly, he responded that his father “doesn’t text."
In one of Trump Jr.’s texts that has been previously reported, he had implored then-chief of staff Mark Meadows to get his father to calm the crowds, as detailed today at The Hill.
“He’s got to condemn this shit. Asap. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough.”
But there was also this: “The transcript includes a number of instances of Trump Jr. saying he does not remember or recall certain questions or statements, such as why he thought the Capitol Police tweet sent by his father was not enough.
You can review the January 6 committee’s interview transcript with Trump Jr. here.
