In a prelude to its final report, the January 6 House committee Wednesday night released 34 transcripts of witness testimony in which a majority of respondents invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Among the transcripts released included questioning of some of former President Donald Trump's closest legal and political allies, such as conservative lawyer John Eastman, who, according to The New York Times, pleaded the Fifth 155 times during his questioning.
Embattled far-right Infowars host Alex Jones had his lawyer tell the committee before questioning began that Jones intended to invoke "his Fifth Amendment privilege as to every question but for asking him to identify himself." And Charlie Kirk, executive director of the conservative organization Turning Point, pleaded his right against self-incrimination when asked about his age, highest level of education and if he did in fact found Turning Point USA.
The January 6 committee wrote in its report's executive summary posted on Monday that over 30 witnesses took the Fifth during all or part of their questioning. The committee added that many of Trump's lawyers, including Jenna Ellis and Eastman, "invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination when asked by the Select Committee what supposed proof they uncovered that the election was stolen."
"Not a single witness--nor any combination of witnesses--provided the Select Committee with evidence demonstrating that fraud occurred on a scale even remotely close to changing the outcome in any State," read the summary.
Other transcripts released on Wednesday showed moments where witnesses and their lawyers were combative with the House committee. During the testimony of Jeffrey Clark, a former Department of Justice official under Trump, his lawyer Harry MacDougald began the questioning by sharing times Clark had been the target of threats during the lifespan of the committee's investigation, and said the "whole process has gone off the rails."
MacDougald also told the committee he believed it was "legally defective in its composition," although he noted that some of his arguments against the committee's existence had yet to hold up in court.
Roger Stone, former campaign adviser to Trump, also refused to answer any question asked by the panel, including when asked for his age and where he lived. At one point during Stone's questioning, panel member Jamie Raskin, U.S. representative of Maryland, asked if Stone would be willing to answer a question "that did not expose you to potential self-incrimination."
Stone, however, held his ground and continued to plead the Fifth.
Despite the lack of cooperation by witnesses, Wednesday's release shed light on the amount of evidence collected by the committee during its investigation through subpoenas. Ellis, who was a part of Trump's legal team attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election, was asked specific questions about text messages the committee acquired between Ellis and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
After several questions where Ellis pleaded the Fifth, the committee asked if she intended to assert her "Fifth Amendment privilege to any questions" asked involving her interactions and text messages with Meadows.
Ellis answered yes, then returned to invoking the Fifth when asked if she was doing so because she believed "the answer to these questions may tend to incriminate" her.
In a email sent early Thursday morning, Eastman's lawyer, Charles Burnham, told Newsweek that the Fifth Amendment protects people from "tyrannical prosecutions."
"The Supreme Court has held that the Fifth Amendment protects the innocent as well as the guilty from 'heedless, unfounded or tyrannical prosecutions.' The January 6th committee members' repeated implications that invoking the Fifth Amendment constitutes an admission of guilt is irresponsible. To the contrary, invoking the Fifth Amendment in these circumstances is an entirely reasonable response to a partisan congressional committee urging our nation down the dangerous path of imprisoning defeated political opponents," Burnham said.
Jones' lawyer, Norm Pattis, also told Newsweek on Thursday that his client "asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege because he did not trust the committee."
"He remains mistrustful," Pattis continued in his email. "This is a partisan document released for partisan purposes."
Wednesday's transcripts are only part of the committee's final report, as the long-anticipated culmination of the panel's 18-month investigation is expected to be released on Thursday. According to a report from Politico, the final report will include an analysis of foreign governments that attempted to "capitalize" from election misinformation pushed by Trump.
As Politico notes, the final release was likely postponed due to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's impromptu plan to visit Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, as well as the ongoing deliberation in Congress over the $1.7 trillion spending plan ahead of its Friday deadline.
Newsweek has also reached out to lawyers for Clark, Ellis, Kirk and Stone for comment.
Update 12/22/22, 4:20 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with comment from Norm Pattis.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more
