Ivanka Trump ‘Accepted’ Bill Barr’s Findings There Was No Evidence Of Fraud In 2020 Election
The former Attorney General said in an interview that he hadn’t seen evidence of significant fraud that had cost former President Donald Trump the 2020 election.
Ivanka Trump said that she agreed with former Attorney General William Barr’s assessment that there was not significant fraud in the 2020 election in a pre-recorded video interview, which was shown during the primetime hearing from the January 6 Committee on Thursday, June 9. In part of Barr’s testimony that was previewed during the opening statements, he said that he had told then-President Donald Trump that didn’t agree with his statements that he’d unjustly lost the election. “I made it clear I did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen and putting out this stuff,” he said.
In a clip shown later, Barr said that he wasn’t sold on there being voter fraud that cost Trump the election. “I told the President in no uncertain terms that I did not see evidence of fraud that would have affected the outcome of the election. And frankly, a year and a half later, I haven’t seen anything to change my mind on that,” he said.
In a short video shown in the opening, Ivanka said that statements from Barr “affected [her] perspective” on the election. “I respect Attorney General Barr. I accepted what he was saying,” she said in the clip. At another point, Barr also spoke about a conspiracy surrounding Dominion Voting Machines, which he said he saw “zero basis for the allegations.”
The committee is composed of nine members of the House of Representatives, with most of them being Democrats. The committee is chaired by Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson. The Democratic majority members are: Zoe Lofgren (California), Elaine Luria (Virginia), Adam Schiff (California), Pete Aguilar (California), Stephanie Murphy (Florida), and Jamie Raskin (Maryland). The only Republicans on the committee are noted critics of former President Donald Trump: Liz Cheney (Wyoming) and Adam Kinzinger (Illinois). Cheney is the vice-chair for the committee.
The primetime hearing was the second public event held by the committee. The first hearing was held in July 2021, where law enforcement officers who were on the ground testified to what they experienced as they tried to fight back rioters who invaded the Capitol building.
The Select Committee was formed about 6 months after the attack on the Capitol, which left five people dead. On the “About” page for the committee, it notes that the Department of Homeland Security had issued a National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin in relation to the attack.
Ahead of the primetime hearings, the select committee had requested information from many different members of Congress in relation to the attack. Five members of Congress (Reps. Kevin McCarthy, Scott Perry, Jim Jordan, Andy Biggs and Mo Brooks) were subpoenaed to appear for depositions at the end of May, on May 12. In a statement, Thompson had said that they’d been asked to offer information voluntarily. “Regrettably, the individuals receiving subpoenas today have refused and we’re forced to take this step to help ensure the committee uncovers facts concerning January 6th. We urge our colleagues to comply with the law, do their patriotic duty, and cooperate with our investigation as hundreds of other witnesses have done,” he said.