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Stephanie Grisham, Donald Trump's former press secretary, alongside her former boss
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SAUL LOEB v AFP
Former US President Donald Trump held secret meetings before storming the US Capitol, according to the former White House press secretary. There were meetings in the President's living quarters in the White House, Stephanie Grisham told CNN on Friday. Grisham also communicated this to the investigative committee into the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021. "I have no insight into what was discussed there," Grisham said. But she assumes that in addition to Trump's legal advisers, the then chief of staff Mark Meadows was also present.
Trump often held meetings in the living quarters because he was afraid of "leaks" in the White House, Grisham said. A "very, very small circle" was present at such talks. Trump's wife Melania also often attended such meetings. "She probably knew what was going on, too," Grisham says. The former press secretary believes there are more details about the meetings in White House documents. Trump had just suffered a defeat in the Supreme Court in the dispute over the release of such documents.
Referring to Trump's daughter Ivanka, Grisham said: "I can say that Ivanka was often the voice of reason." the attack on the seat of the US Congress. Grisham said she didn't know what role Ivanka Trump, who was a senior advisor to her father at the time, played around January 6. "I can say that employees (...) often went to her when they were in a sticky situation." Ivanka Trump then asked them to talk to her father about it.
Grisham served as press secretary for the former first lady from 2017 to 2019, before taking on the posts of press secretary and White House communications director for around nine months.
She then became Melania Trump's spokesperson again and at one point became her chief of staff.
She recently published a book about her time in the White House.
jso/dpa