CNN
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A newly released transcript of Kayleigh McEnany’s interview with the Commission on Jan. 6 shows that Trump’s White House press secretary was eating lunch in her office as conditions in the US Capitol turned violent. I clarified how I learned that I was targeted.
“At first I went back to the office for lunch, but then I turned up the volume on Fox News,” McEnany told the commission.
The House committee investigating Friday’s Jan. 6 attacks on the US Capitol has released the latest batch of transcripts from interviews conducted during the investigation. The new transcript includes an interview with Ivanka, a former press secretary and daughter of former President Donald Trump.
According to the latest tranche of documents, McEnany returned to the White House from Trump’s rally at the Oval and eventually went to her office for lunch — a turkey sandwich.
Soon, a CBS News producer “brought into” her office and asked her “thoughts on the Capitol.” “I was completely blindsided by what[the reporter]was referring to,” McEnany said.
She then alerted White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to the reporter’s investigation and reports of minor injuries in the Capitol.
At some point during the riot, McEnany said he received a text from Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere, who said he was “asked if there was any reaction to the people storming the Hill office building.”
In a House committee interview, the committee’s Republican vice chairman, Rep. Liz Cheney, pressed McEnany over her apparent inaction when hearing reports of violence, implying a lack of urgency.
“[Deere] If you send a text message saying someone is raiding, it says Hill’s office building,” says Cheney. “And you were eating a turkey sandwich and you didn’t register?”
According to the transcript, McEnany rejected the portrayal of Cheney.
“I absolutely refuse the characterization that I’m just eating a turkey sandwich and ignore the text that the Capitol Hill office building was raided. I probably didn’t see it at the time.” replied McEnany, saying the text was likely sent to a private phone that should have been on her desk.
“I would never eat a turkey sandwich if I thought the Capitol was under siege,” she added.
McEnany met virtually with the committee in January after being first subpoenaed last year.
The publication of the minutes will be in conjunction with the final report of the committee. This is a comprehensive synopsis of the findings of a bipartisan panel on how Trump and his allies tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election, released late Thursday night.
