Kayleigh McEnany appears before Capitol riot committee, reports say

The committee has had trouble speaking with top Trump officials so far

Kayleigh McEnany has reportedly testified before Congress’s 6 January insurrection committee, marking one of the highest-profile contributions to the investigation so far for a former Trump administration official.

On Wednesday, investigators reportedly virtually questioned Ms McEnany, who served as White House press secretary and a Trump 2020 campaign spokesperson.

The House select committee probing the 6 January riots at the US Capitol announced their intent to seek information from the former press official last month, writing that Ms McEnany “"made multiple public statements from the White House and elsewhere about purported fraud in the November 2020 election.”

The Independent has attempted to reach Ms McEnany for comment. Investigators may have spoke with Ms McEnany, now a host on Fox News, but they’re still seeking reams of records from her and other top Trump officials stored in the National Archives, a request the former president asked the Supreme Court to block in December.

The National Archives, in the course of Mr Trump’s legal action, said the 6 January committee wants at least 629 pages from Ms McEnany alone, “principally relating to allegations of voter fraud, election security, and other topics concerning the 2020 election.”

Lower courts have blessed the committee’s requests for documents, as has President Biden, who waived executive privilege on many of Mr Trump’s records.

"On the record before us, former President Trump has provided no basis for this court to override President Biden’s judgment and the agreement and accommodations worked out between the Political Branches over these documents," Judge Patricia Millett wrote of the D.C. Circuit wrote last month.

The former president has criticised the move, writing in a court filing that it “lacks any meaningful or objective limiting principle. In an increasingly partisan political climate, such records requests will become the norm regardless of what party is in power.

Despite pressing on for months, the 6 January committee has struggled to get top Trump officials and allies to testify, with former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former adviser Steve Bannon, and former national security adviser Michael Flynn all fighting subpoenas from the committee.

Most recently, the committee has sought to question GOP representatives Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, and Scott Perry, all of whom have indicated they oppose the inquiry’s requests. Mr McCarthy, the House minority leader, has called it an “abuse of power.”

The committee has also been reportedly courting former vice-president Mike Pence as a potential witness, but so far hasn’t secured his cooperation.