Former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham suggested Capitol riot investigators should scrutinize private meetings devoid of documentation to understand fully a bid for the Justice Department to challenge President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

On a media blitz for a new book during which she has emerged as a critic of former President Donald Trump and his administration, Grisham appeared on NBC News's Meet the Press after Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat who said a lingering mystery about the DOJ pressure campaign is "who was really behind" the scheme.

Host Chuck Todd asked Grisham if she had any idea of who was "helping sort of fund and back these crazy claims" of election fraud being pushed by Trump and his White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.

"I know, you know, as does the public, that there was Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell and some of those characters," Grisham replied.

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Giuliani was Trump's personal lawyer who led his legal effort to challenge the results of the November contest, and Powell is an attorney who pushed some of the more far-fetched claims of an election fraud conspiracy, leading the Trump legal team to distance itself from her allegations.

"I do know that there were a lot of private meetings in the residence taking place that were perhaps not taking place in the White House where there would be public documents about that," Grisham continued. "So, hopefully, the Jan. 6 [committee] or you know, somebody will look into that, whoever the appropriate entity is. I don't have a specific name. I don't think it was one person. I think there were probably a few," she added.

Grisham, who was also first lady Melania Trump's chief of staff, resigned from the Trump administration on Jan. 6, when rioters stormed the Capitol complex and disrupted lawmakers as they worked to certify Biden's electoral victory. Grisham told CNN last week she would be willing to cooperate with the House Jan. 6 Select Committee.

Her new tell-all book, I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House, was met with an embittered response by the former first lady, whose office said her book uses "mistruth and betrayal" in seeking to "gain relevance and money at the expense of Mrs. Trump."

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Former President Donald Trump directed several close advisers not to comply with subpoenas issued by the House Jan. 6 Select Committee. So far, the panel says one of them, Trump's onetime chief strategist, Steve Bannon, has indicated he will not cooperate. Eleven others tied to the organization of the Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 rallies that led up to the Capitol riot have also been subpoenaed.

Grisham said she believes Trump will run for office again in 2024, in part because of how his base is reacting to his claims of a stolen election and Republican officials refusing to speak out against the former president.

"That's why I'm speaking out the way I am. I don’t, I don't want him to run again," Grisham said. "I think people aren't remembering that if he does run again in 2024, he'll have no guardrails because he will never have to worry about reelection. So, he will do whatever he wants. He will hire whomever he wants. And I think that that includes people of the Jan. 6 mind. And I think that, you know, earlier, your guest was talking about the DOJ and it being weaponized. Imagine who he could put into the DOJ in 2024, knowing he's got no consequences there."

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Tags: News, White House, Stephanie Grisham, Donald Trump, Melania Trump, January 6, Congress

Original Author: Daniel Chaitin

Original Location: Grisham offers clue to Capitol riot investigators about off-the-books private meetings