WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol said Friday it would force Kimberly Guilfoyle, the fiancée of former President Donald J. Trump’s eldest son, to testify after she abruptly gave a voluntary interview with the panel had ended.
Ms. Guilfoyle, a television personality engaged to Donald Trump Jr., met virtually with the commission’s staff investigators Friday after she provided documents the commission described as “German” for its investigation. But she became annoyed and interrupted the questioning when she learned that members of the committee — including Representatives Adam B. Schiff of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland, both Democrats, and Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the panel’s top Republican — were participating in the panel. session, according to acquaintances of the situation who spoke about the confidential conversation on condition of anonymity.
Committee members regularly participate in the panel’s interviews of high-profile witnesses.
When news of the interview leaked to the news media, Ms. Guilfoyle declined to proceed, and her attorney accused the panel of attempting to “sandbag” her and use her participation in the investigation as a “political weapon” against the former. president.
“Mrs. Guilfoyle, under threat of subpoena, agreed to meet exclusively with counsel for the select committee in a good faith effort to provide true and relevant evidence,” Ms. Guilfoyle’s attorney Joseph Tacopina said in a statement. a statement after the interview failed: “However, in the presence of Ms. Guilfoyle, the committee revealed her unreliability, as members appeared notorious for leaking information.”
When he asked for a break to address the issue, Mr. Tacopina said, the panel leaked the incident to reporters.
A spokesperson for the committee denied doing so, saying Ms Guilfoyle’s refusal to cooperate had left the panel no choice but to use her subpoena power to compel her to testify.
“The select committee had hoped it would do what dozens of other witnesses have done: participate in a voluntary transcribed interview with staff and committee members,” said Tim Mulvey, the spokesman. “Mrs. Guilfoyle has now refused to do so, forcing the select committee to coerce her testimony in an upcoming statement.”
Ms. Guilfoyle has said she raised millions of dollars to help fund the rally that preceded the January 6 attack on the Capitol. She was seen dancing in a backstage area to the Laura Branigan song “Gloria” before the crowd’s onslaught. Her lawyer denied that she had anything to do with the violence that erupted.
“They can do what they’re going to do,” Mr Tacopina said of the threat of a subpoena from the commission. “Of course, confidence has gone out the window. In the end Kimberly did nothing wrong.”
The commission has interviewed more than 550 witnesses, but has internally debated how aggressive it is to pursue members of the former president’s family.
The panel has subpoenaed phone records of Ms. Guilfoyle and Eric Trump, the former president’s second-eldest son, but has opted for a lengthy negotiation process for the voluntary testimony of Ivanka Trump, the former president’s eldest daughter, who advised him in the White House.
A spokeswoman for Ms. Trump said this week she was “in talks with the committee to voluntarily appear for an interview.”
On Friday, the panel also heard testimonies from two Georgian Republicans involved in the plan to use false “alternative voters” in key states that President Biden won to try to keep former President Trump in office.
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David Shafer, the chairman of the state party, and Shawn Still, the former party secretary, told the panel they have put their names forward as pro-Trump voters in coordination with the Trump campaign, their lawyer said.
Bob Driscoll, an attorney for both witnesses, argued in a statement that the men had done nothing wrong and were only acting “tentatively” to “protect a remedy in the event that President Trump eventually succeeds.”
“There was nothing secret or covert about the meeting,” Driscoll said, adding that pro-Trump voters voted in public on Dec. 14, 2020, in the presence of the news media.
The committee says Georgia Republicans then sent to Congress an alleged “Certificate of the Votes,” which was used as justification for trying to delay or block the certification of the election for Mr. Biden during the joint session of Congress. on January 6. , 2021.
Maggie Haberman reporting contributed.