The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol spent about eight hours on Thursday questioning Stephen Miller, a top White House adviser to former President Donald J. Trump, in a sometimes-controversial exchange that questions Trump’s speech earlier included a crowd the morning of the riots, according to two people familiar with the session.
Investigators repeatedly asked Mr. Miller about the use of the word “we” during Mr. Trump’s speech at the Ellipse, outside the White House, on Jan. 6, 2021, people said, in an apparent effort to determine whether the The former president had ordered supporters to take action with him to prevent Congress from certifying his defeat. Mr Miller argued that the language was no different from any other political speech.
Mr. Miller was Mr. Trump’s chief domestic policy adviser and his chief speechwriter. He is the last former White House official to appear before the committee, a day after former White House counsel Pat A. Cipollone and his deputy, Patrick F. Philbin, appeared. Mr Miller was subpoenaed in November 2021 but has resisted the panel’s attempts to obtain information from him, appearing only after lengthy negotiations with committee officials.
Mr Miller did not respond to a message requesting comment. But the two people familiar with his appearance, who spoke of the confidential interview on condition of anonymity, sometimes described the session as heated. Mr. Miller invoked administrative law when asked about his conversations with Mr. Trump, including a phone call he had with the former president on the morning of Jan. 6, according to White House records, one of the people said. .
One of the most controversial exchanges involved a draft of Trump’s speech that morning at a so-called Stop the Steal rally near the White House. Thousands of rally participants marched from that event to the Capitol, where they stormed the building just as Congress gathered to celebrate the Electoral College victory of Joseph R. Biden Jr. to formalize.
Trump repeatedly used the word “we” in his remarks that day. “We’re not taking it anymore, and that’s what it’s all about,” Trump said. “And to use a favorite term you all came up with: we stop stealing.”
Mr. Miller refuted the implication that the word “we” indicated that Mr. Trump was trying to incite the crowd to action, one of the people said, arguing that it has been used in political speeches for decades, including by President John F. Kennedy regarding the moon landing.
Another point of contention with Mr. Miller was Mr. Trump’s false claims of widespread vote fraud. Mr. Miller, those familiar with his appearance said, claimed the election was stolen and claimed there were several examples of fraud.
Investigators also urged Mr. Miller to be involved in plans to advance pro-Trump voters in states won by Mr. Biden as part of an effort to keep Mr. Trump in office.
When the electoral college met to vote in December 2020, Mr. Miller announced on Fox News that state lawmakers in several “disputed states” were sending “an alternative list of voters” to Congress.
“This will ensure that all of our legal remedies remain open,” said Mr. Miller.
Despite his appearance on Thursday, Mr. Miller has taken a hostile stance towards the commission. Last month, he sued to prevent investigators from accessing his phone records, in part arguing that the panel has been violating his parents’ privacy since he was on their family plan.
The Aftermath of Capitol Riot: Key Developments
Debating a criminal referral. The Jan. 6 commission has become divided over whether former President Donald J. Trump should be criminally referred to the Justice Department, even though it has concluded that she has sufficient evidence to do so. The debate revolves around whether a referral would backfire by politically sullying the expanding federal investigation.
The committee is in possession of a draft of Mr. Trump’s speech, in which researchers have expressed particular interest in exploring the incendiary language and whether it encouraged rally participants to march toward the Capitol.
Mr. Miller helped draft the speech, although others on his team would have played a larger role. Two other speechwriters on the team, Vince Haley and Ross Worthington, have already testified before the committee.
Mr. Trump’s last chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has claimed that Mr. Trump ad-libbed the portion of his comments instructing the crowd to march toward the Capitol. But the committee has obtained testimony and concurrent notes from a former senior White House official that directly contradict Mr. Meadows’ statements, the panel said.
“That former senior official explained that the president really wanted to walk or drive up to Capitol Hill with the protesters at the end of his January 6 speech,” Representative Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who chairs the committee, wrote in a statement. letter to Mr. Trump’s oldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, asking her to testify.
Mr. Trump also recently admitted to The Washington Post that he had wanted to join the march on the Capitol, but that the Secret Service prevented him from doing so. The Times and other media reported shortly after the riots that Trump had wanted to march but was told he couldn’t.