Ivanka Trump testifies before US January 6 Capitol attack probe

Committee says she may know of her father's attempts to obstruct Congress

The House committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol wants to know what Ivanka Trump heard and saw that day as they try to stitch together the narrative of the riots. AP

Former US president Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka testified on Tuesday before the probe into the 2021 Capitol assault, US media reported, as legislators ramp up attempts to seek evidence from the inner circle of the former president.

The House January 6 select committee asked the 40-year-old businesswoman — a senior adviser to her father — to appear voluntarily, telling her it had evidence that she had pleaded with him to call off the violence as his supporters stormed Congress.

"She's answering questions. I mean, you know, not in a broad, chatty term, but she's answering questions," Representative Bennie Thompson, the panel's Democratic chairman, said on CNN.

Mr Thompson said her testimony began on Tuesday morning and was still ongoing by mid-afternoon.

Asked if he would describe Ivanka Trump as co-operating, Mr Thompson told CNN, "She came in on her own, that has obviously significant value. We did not have to subpoena."

Investigators are looking into how the attack, which shut down Congress as politicians were certifying the 2020 presidential election, took place and to what extent then-president Trump and his aides encouraged it.

The committee has already spoken to about 800 witnesses — including Ms Trump's husband Jared Kushner — and has been working its way through 90,000 documents and more than 435 messages received through its tip line.

It is said to be treating the former first daughter's actions as the riot was under way as a “key focus” of the probe.

“Testimony obtained by the committee indicates that members of the White House staff requested your assistance on multiple occasions to intervene in an attempt to persuade President Trump to address the continuing lawlessness and violence on Capitol Hill,” chairman Bennie Thompson wrote to her in January.

She appears to have direct knowledge of her father's attempt to persuade then-vice president Mike Pence to stop the counting of electoral votes, the committee said, when it asked her to come forward.

“As January 6 approached, President Trump attempted on multiple occasions to persuade vice president Pence to participate in his plan,” Mr Thompson wrote.

“One of the president's discussions with the vice president occurred by phone on the morning of January 6. You were present in the Oval Office and observed at least one side of that telephone conversation.”

The panel has said it is also seeking information from Ms Trump about concerns voiced by White House lawyers, legislators and Pence aides about her father's plan “to obstruct or impede the counting of electoral votes".

The eldest of the former president's two daughters, who served as director of the White House Office of Economic Initiatives and Entrepreneurship, was not immediately available for comment.