In a recent interview, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) implicated Ivanka Trump in the ongoing Jan. 6 investigation, and now there are calls to investigate her text messages from that day.
Graham told CNN’s Manu Raju that he asked Ivanka, then a senior White House adviser to her father, former President Donald Trump to message her father while his supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress was preparing to certify Joe Biden’s election win, RawStory [1] reports.
“Sen. Lindsey Graham said he didn’t text with [Mark] Meadows on Jan. 6,” Raju tweeted, “but told me he spoke with Ivanka Trump to deliver a message to her dad. He said wanted then-President Trump to ‘tell his people to leave.'”
Sen. Lindsey Graham said he didn’t text with Meadows on Jan. 6 —- but told me he spoke with Ivanka Trump to deliver a message to her dad. He said he wanted then-President Trump to “tell his people to leave.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 14, 2021 [2]
According to The Independent, [3] texts handed over to the House committee investigating the Capitol riot by Meadows before he stopped cooperating with the panel (and is now being found in contempt [4]) reveal that Fox News hosts and Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr. texted Meadows, urging him to encourage Trump to call off his dogs, er supporters. (Sorry, actual dogs — y’all are much nicer, cuter, and probably smarter.)
Anyway, Graham told Raju he didn’t text with Meadows on Jan. 6, However, he did say he talked to Ivanka Trump and asked her to message her father and tell him to “tell his people to leave.”
Now some noted people are wanting to find out more.
“I want to see what Jared and Ivanka were texting to Meadows,” notes Lincoln Project founder Rick Wilson in a tweet Monday.
I want to see what Jared and Ivanka were texting to Meadows.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) December 14, 2021 [5]
“So disappointed there were no texts read by the 1/6 committee from Ivanka begging her daddy to tell them to stop,” noted Twitter user Barbara Melmet.
So disappointed there were no texts read by the 1/6 committee from Ivanka begging her daddy to tell them to stop. But it figures. She never told him to stop either.
— Barbara Malmet (@B52Malmet) December 14, 2021 [6]
Another Twitter user, Kevin Goebel mused:
“Sounds like Ivanka’s phone records need to be subpoenaed if they haven’t already been if they haven’t already been. Who else reached POTUS through her?”
Sounds like Ivanka’s phone records need to be subpoenaed if they haven’t already been. Who else reached potus through her? https://t.co/IPIuwbs2uD [7]
— Kevin Goebel 🏳️🌈 (@kgoebel) December 14, 2021 [8]
Late last October The Washington Post [9] reported that Graham repeatedly called Ivanka, Trump’s eldest daughter, peppering her with suggestions regarding what her father should tell his supporters in order to get them to stand down.
“You need to get these people out of here,” Graham told Trump. “This thing is going south. This is not good. You’re going to have to tell these people to stand down. Stand down.”
The Post also reported that Ivanka went from her office in the West Wing, located on the second floor, where she witnessed the riot on TV to the president’s dining room, where Trump himself was watching the events unfold.
But as the world knows, Trump waited for hours before finally issuing a tweet calling for his followers to keep the piece. Which of course, they hadn’t been doing.
“Please support Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our country. Stay peaceful!”
It’s reported that Ivanka tried to convince her father to use more forceful language to calm his supporters. Apparently, she believed she’d convinced him to do so, but Meadows called later to say that wasn’t the case.
“I need you to come down here,” Meadows told her. “We’ve got to get this under control.”
So then the former first daughter tweeted another one of dear old dad’s statements, one that aides subsequently found inefficient. And along with that, also managed to stir up a hornet’s nest after she referred to the mob as “patriots.”
“American Patriots — any security breach or disrespect to our law enforcement is unacceptable,” she tweeted at 3:15 p.m. “The violence must stop immediately. Please be peaceful.”
Yup. That’s going to get a bunch of Trump supporters already hopped up on hydroxychloroquine and horse dewormer to settle right down, now ain’t it?
At any rate, Ivanka deleted that Tweet faster than you can say “second impeachment” to keep it from causing a further stir.
So let’s hope the committee investigates Ivanka’s messages to give everyone a better idea of just how involved she really was in stopping the insurrection and whether she was able to have any influence over her father, who was clearly power-tripping over this tragedy.