US: Trump held secret meetings in White House days before Capitol attack, reveals aide

Former US President Donald Trump held secret meetings in the White House residence just before the Capitol attack last year, Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told the House committee probing the 6 January insurrection. The Guardian reported citing sources familiar with the issue that former Trump aide also told the select committee that the details about if former US President actually intended to march the Capitol after his speech at the Ellipse rally, would be revealed in documents provided to the US Secret Service. 

The sources also revealed to the media outlet that the interview of Grisham with the select committee was more significant than expected. It is to note that Grisham was the chief of staff of Former First Lady Melania Trump, and she resigned on 6 January, following the US Capitol attack. According to the report, the sources said that former Trump aide gave brand new information about the White House under the 45th President and what he was doing before the attack took place.

The Guardian further stated that Grisham gave the House investigators an overview of the chaotic final weeks of the Trump administration that also led to the US Capitol attack. She recalled that several ‘off-the-books meetings were held in White House residence. The media outlet also stated citing its sources, that the said secret meetings were apparently known by only a small number of people. 

Grisham revealed that the secret meetings were mostly scheduled by Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows and the participants were taken upstairs by the former chief usher, Timothy Harleth. The former White House press secretary also told the select committee that she was unsure about who exactly Trump used to meet in those secret meetings but gave out Harleth’s name and the identities of other Trump aides in the usher’s office who might know more of the meetings.

Trump made calls from Yellow Oval Room, other places in White House

Grisham’s explosive revelation about secret meetings in White House just days before the US Capitol attack, came after The Guardian previously reported that Trump made several phone calls from the Yellow Oval Room and elsewhere in the White House residence to lieutenants at the Willard Hotel in Washington just the night before 6 January 2021 attack. The media outlet cited another former Trump administration official who revealed that the ex-US President increasingly retreated to the White House residence to conduct work as his presidency progressed.

Image: AP