Justice Department says ex-Trump officials can testify about Capitol attack
Washington — The Justice Department has decided that former officials who worked in the Trump administration can testify before congressional committees probing the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, a U.S. official confirmed to CBS News.
The department recently sent letters to Capitol Hill notifying lawmakers that the ex-officials had been given the green light to give testimony about the events surrounding the Capitol attack. The New York Times first reported the Justice Department’s decision.
Several congressional panels, including the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, have mounted investigations into former President Donald Trump’s efforts to reverse the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and the run-up to the January 6 riots at the Capitol, which left five people dead and more than 150 police officers injured.
The House Oversight Committee, led by Democrats, released documents last month detailing the extent to which Mr. Trump pushed the Justice Department to challenge the results of the election after President Biden was declared the winner. The panel is seeking interviews with several former Trump administration officials, including former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and former acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, who received or exchanged emails about Mr. Trump’s unfounded claims the election was rigged and his efforts to overturn the outcome of the election.
The decision by the Justice Department paves the way for the officials to answer questions about their experiences working for the Trump administration in the weeks after the November 3 election.