Kayleigh McEnany hands over text messages to the January 6 committee as its revealed handed-in documents have had to be taped back together because Trump RIPPED them up in the White House
Kayleigh McEnany has turned over text messages to the House committee probing the January 6 Capitol riot while some of Donald Trump's White House documents had to be taped back together to send to the panel.
A source familiar with Mcenany's interaction with the panel told ABC News in a Tuesday report that texts turned over from her phone were used in a recent letter sent to Ivanka Trump seeking her compliance.
According to the records, Fox News host Sean Hannity texted McEnany: '1 - no more stolen election talk. 2- Yes, impeachment and the 25th amendment are real and many people will quit.'
'Love that. Thank you. That is the playbook. I will help reinforce....,' McEnany replied.
McEneny, who served as Trump's final press secretary, was subpoenaed in November by the panel seeking her records and testimony and she joins a growing list of former and current Trump aides to cooperate with the probe.
Since leaving the White House, McEnany has joined Fox News and is co-host of Outnumbered alongside Harris Faulkner and Emily Compagno.
The panel subpoenaed 10 people in November, including McEnany, who now appears to be complying.
A source familiar with her testimony told ABC that McEnany appeared for hours virtually before the panel on January 13 – the same day she did not appear on her midday Fox program.
Trump claims however, that there should be an investigation of former Vice President Mike Pence for not sending the Electoral College votes back to the states. He said in a Tuesday statement that if Pence had taken this action, there would not have been an attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Former Trump Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany testified before the select committee probing the January 6 Capitol attack and handed over text messages that were used in a letter from the panel to Ivanka Trump, a source revealed Tuesday
In addition to the text messages, investigators are expected to receive McEnany's White House files from the National Archives.
Trump tried unsuccessfully to prevent the Archives from sharing the documents with Congress.
Some of the papers handed over to the select committee were taped together by National Archives staff because they had been ripped up, the agency revealed in a statement.
'Some of the Trump presidential records received by the National Archives and Records Administration included paper records that had been torn up by former President Trump,' the Archives told CNN without explaining how it was known that Trump was the individual who defaced the records.
'These were turned over to the National Archives at the end of the Trump Administration, along with a number of torn-up records that had not been reconstructed by the White House,' the Archives said. 'The Presidential Records Act requires that all records created by presidents be turned over to the National Archives at the end of their administrations.'
News of McEnaney's testimony and document hand-over makes at least seven known Trump world individuals who have complied with the panel.
Ben Williamson, who was senior advisor to Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows; Keith Kellogg Vice President Mike Pence's National Security Advisor, John Eastman, Trump's lawyer; and Taylor Budowich, who still serves in Trump's communications shop have all complied in some form.
Meadows is considered to be in partial compliance because he did hand over documents before deciding to no longer cooperate with the panel.
Trump ally Steve Bannon and Meadows have openly challenged the committee's subpoenas. This resulted in Congress holding them in contempt and issuing criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, which has not yet acted.
Pence's Chief of Staff Marc Short also testified before the House committee last week, a Monday CNN report revealed.
Trump released a statement Tuesday morning claiming former Vice President Mike Pence should be investigated for not sending Electoral College votes back to the states. He also said there would be 'no January 6 as we know it' if Pence had taken this action
Short's hearing with the House select committee signals further willingness by Pence's team to cooperate with the investigation.
He testified for hours in-person at the Capitol last Wednesday, a source familiar with the matter revealed . It followed a subpoena and months of discussions between Short's attorney Emmet Flood and lawyers on the committee.
The panel is still unsure if Pence will testify but the committee is in early talks with his legal team seeking some form of cooperation.
Multiple sources claim Pence would prefer his aides act as a 'proxy' so the former VP doesn't have to appear.
Trump insists it's Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who should be under investigation for the January 6 attack.
'If it were sent back to the legislators, or if Nancy Pelosi, who is in charge of Capitol security, had taken my recommendation and substantially increased security, there would have been no 'January 6' as we know it!' Trump wrote in a Tuesday morning statement.
He added: 'Therefore, the Unselect Committee should be investigating why Nancy Pelosi did such a poor job of overseeing security and why Mike Pence did not send back the votes for recertification or approval, in that it has now been shown that he clearly had the right to do so!'
Obtaining Short's testimony comes as the panel tries to get to the bottom of an alleged pressure campaign by then-President Donald Trump and his staff to get Pence to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential elections.
Pence, as vice president and therefore president of the Senate, did not have the power to overturn the elections as Trump thought. His role in the certification process is to oversee Congress as it votes to uphold the Electoral College votes from each state, which ultimately ended up declaring Biden the winner.
Trump, it's reported, believes Pence could have unilaterally stopped Congress from certifying Biden's win, which the former president still claims was 'rigged' in an election riddled with 'fraud.'
Former Vice President Mike Pence's White House Chief of Staff Marc Short quietly testified last Wednesday before the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, a source told CNN
It's still not clear if Pence (right) will testify before the committee as they try to get to the bottom of an alleged pressure campaign by then-President Donald Trump and his staff to get Pence to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential elections
The 45th president has repeatedly blamed his No. 2 for his election loss.
In a Sunday evening statement, Trump bluntly admitted for the first time that he was trying to use Pence to overturn the election result.
He pointed to efforts on Capitol Hill to change the Electoral Count Act, including firming up language to make clear the vice president is only there to count votes and can't override the will of the voters.
'Actually, what they are saying, is that Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away,' Trump wrote in his statement from his Save America PAC email. 'Unfortunately, he didn't exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!'
Trump argued, 'If the Vice President (Mike Pence) had 'absolutely no right' to change the Presidential Election results in the Senate, despite fraud and many other irregularities, how come the Democrats and RINO Republicans, like Wacky Susan Collins, are desperately trying to pass legislation that will not allow the Vice President to change the results of the election?'
Pence is speaking at the Federalist Society gathering in Florida this week and a source familiar with his thinking says he may respond to Trump's statements about him at that forum.
Trump said in a Sunday statement it's clear Pence could have overturned the election. He pointed to efforts on Capitol Hill to change the Electoral Count Act, including firming up the language to make clear that the vice president is only there to count votes and can't override the will of the voters
Vice presidents also act as presidents of the Senate when they are in office. They cannot override the Senate certifying presidential election results as reported by the Electoral College. Pictured: Pence on Capitol Hill for the election certification on January 6, 2021
A source close to Pence said of the potential to 'overturn' the results: 'There was a lot of pressure, but we always knew we were doing the right thing.'
Short was at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and was also part of a White House meeting two days prior.
Before testifying last week, Short has already supplied subpoenaed documents to the committee, one source told CNN. This included a memo from Trump aide Johnny McEntee comparing the former president to Thomas Jefferson.
Another source familiar with Short's cooperation said it's typical witnesses will hand over additional documents when they testify before a congressional panel.
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