According to testimony provided to the January 6 committee by a former Trump aide, the White House press secretary was trying to avoid Donald Trump because he was trying to convince her to talk about election fraud.
At the time of the 2020 election, Sarah Matthews was the White House deputy press Secretary. A new transcript of her testimony was released by the House committee investigating the Capitol riot.
According to the transcript, Matthews said that McEnany tried to avoid the president after the election, and that he wanted her to speak about the campaign.
The conspiracy theories about election fraud that were pushed by Trump and his allies were instigated by the company that provides election technology. Several Trump allies, including Rudy Giuliani, Mike Lindell, and Sidney Powell, have been sued by the company.
According to Matthews, McEnany tried to limit her interactions with Trump because she didn't want to address the claims.
According to Matthews, McEnany told her that she was avoiding the president because of his requests. It would be a violation of the Hatch Act to address the claims from the White House podium, according to her. Employees of the executive branch are not allowed to participate in political activities.
McEnany continued to do media interviews about the claims of election fraud because she felt she could make a difference between her government position and her personal one, according to Matthews. McEnany worked for both the White House and the Trump campaign.
During an appearance on Fox News at the time, host Neil Cavuto cut away from an interview with McEnany as she pushed accusations of election fraud. After the election, McEnany said that Trump would attend his own inauguration.
The transcript of Matthews' testimony was released by the committee on Thursday.
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