Ivanka And Jared Subpoenaed By Special Counsel

Donald Trump’s daughter and son-in-law have been subpoenaed by special counsel Jack Smith to appear before a federal grand jury for testimony. The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman and Michael Schmidt have the latest here.

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump were reportedly both compelled to share testimony on Trump’s various schemes to stay in the White House after he lost the election to President Biden in 2020 and his role in siccing a mob of his supporters attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Per the Times, it is not yet clear if Trump will try to block his daughter and son-in-law, who were both White House advisers during his administration, from testifying by claiming executive privilege. He tried that argument a few times with allies called by the Jan. 6 committee, but ultimately didn’t use it to try to stop Ivanka and Jared from sitting for interviews with the panel.

This is the second time in recent weeks that we’ve learned Smith has subpoenaed allies in Trump’s innermost circle. Earlier this month it was reported that Trump’s former Veep Mike Pence had been subpoenaed for testimony, which he plans to fight by arguing he’s protected by the Speech and Debate Clause of the Constitution. He reportedly intends to cling to his role as president of the Senate, a legislative branch title, to try to dodge it, instead of relying on Trump to assert executive privilege.

There are plenty of reasons Smith might want to hear testimony from both Kushner and Ivanka. Ivanka was with Trump throughout the day on Jan. 6, including during his speech on the Ellipse and in the Oval Office when he tried to pressure Pence into blocking the certification of the election results.

Kushner was out of the country in the days leading up to the insurrection. He returned to Washington from the Middle East on Jan. 6 and he and Ivanka were involved in getting Trump to record the video to call off the rioters.

But maybe Smith wants to learn more about this crucial detail: