A former White House aide to President Donald Trump reportedly testified Thursday before a federal grand jury investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and the former president’s role in them.
Multiple media outlets reported that Will Russell, who was with Trump for at least part of the day on Jan. 6, testified before the panel, at least the third time doing so.
Grand jury proceedings are secret.
Russell was a special assistant to Trump and the deputy director of presidential advance operations. Russell now works for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, according to NBC News.
The grand jury was empaneled by special counsel Jack Smith, who has been investigating the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump revealed earlier this week that Smith said he was a target of his probe. Trump is not expected to appear before the grand jury.
According to The Washington Post and NBC News, a lawyer for Russell was late to a different proceeding on Thursday in the same courthouse, sparking a confrontation at the bench with U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden.
The judge pressed Russell’s attorney, Stanley Woodward, for an explanation, leading Woodward to say that he “could not leave my client in the grand jury when he was being asked questions that specially involved executive privilege,” according to the Post and NBC News.
That client, ostensibly, is Russell.
Smith is investigating Trump on more than one front regarding what role — if any — the former president played in trying overturn the 2020 election, including the Jan. 6 riots and those attempts to get then Vice President Mike Pence not to certify the electors.
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