Marc Short, Vice President Mike Pence’s former chief of staff, appeared before a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Short confirmed to ABC News.
Short, in an interview Monday night with ABC News’ Linsey Davis, said he was subpoenaed by a grand jury and complied with the subpoena, adding that he “really can’t comment beyond that” according to the advice from your lawyer.
ABC News first reported early Monday that Short had appeared before a grand jury last week.
Short was caught by an ABC News camera leaving D.C. District Court Friday with his attorney, Emmet Flood.
Short is the highest-ranking Trump White House official known to have appeared before the grand jury.
Mike Pence’s former chief of staff Marc Short is seen leaving DC District Court on July 22, 2022.
ABC News
“I think to have ransacked the Capitol the way it was, I think it presented responsibility and danger,” he told Davis in the interview. “And I think the Secret Service did a phenomenal job that day. I think the biggest risk and despite how it may have been characterized in the hearings last week, frankly, is that if the mob had approached the vice president , I think there would have been a massacre in the Capitol that day.”
A spokesman for the US attorney’s office declined to comment to ABC News.
Pence’s former chief attorney, Greg Jacob, also testified before the grand jury, sources familiar with his appearance told ABC News.
Neither Jacob nor his attorney responded to a request for comment from ABC News.
Jacob testified publicly during a recent Jan. 6 committee public hearing.
In March, the Justice Department expanded its criminal investigation into the Jan. 6 events to include preparations for the rally that preceded the storming of the Capitol, as well as the funding of the event, they told ABC News several sources familiar with the matter. .
Grand jury subpoenas were served on those who helped organize and plan former President Donald Trump’s “Save America” rally on the Ellipse near the White House, sources said , with prosecutors seeking multiple records and documents related to the demonstration, including the text. messages and emails, as well as possible communications with others about the logistics of the event.
“There’s a lot of speculation about what the Justice Department is doing, what it’s not doing, what our theories are and what our theories aren’t, and there will be speculation,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. press conference last week. “We must hold accountable all those who are criminally responsible for trying to overturn a legitimate election, and we must do so in a manner full of integrity and professionalism.”
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack has played numerous clips of Short’s statement to committee investigators during its public hearings.
