Former US president Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, has testified to the US House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol building, answering questions for several hours, the panel's chairman said.
"She's answering questions. I mean, you know, not in a broad, chatty term, but she's answering questions," Representative Bennie Thompson, the panel's Democratic chairman, told CNN.
Mr Thompson said Ms Trump — who spent much of the day in the White House with her father on January 6, 2021 — began her testimony on Tuesday morning, local time.
NBC News reported the virtual discussions concluded after around eight hours, and investigators left without commenting to media.
Asked if he would describe Ms Trump as cooperative, Mr Thompson told CNN: "She came in on her own, that has obviously significant value. We did not have to subpoena."
Ms Trump is one of more than 800 witnesses the committee has interviewed as it works to compile a record of the January 6 attack, the worst on the Capitol in more than two centuries.
She is the first of Mr Trump's children known to speak to the committee, and one of the closest people to him.
Whether she gives the committee new information or not, her decision to cooperate is significant for the panel, which has been trying to secure an interview with her since late January.
The nine-member panel is particularly focused on what the former president was doing as his supporters broke into the Capitol and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden's victory.
Lawmakers had said they wanted to discuss what Ms Trump knew about her father's efforts, including a telephone call they say she witnessed, to pressure then-vice president Mike Pence to reject Mr Biden's 2020 election win as part of his ceremonial role overseeing the electoral count. Mr Pence rejected those efforts.
The committee was also interested in any concerns she may have heard from Mr Pence's staff, members of Congress and the White House counsel's office about Mr Trump's pressure on Mr Pence.
Ms Trump's testimony comes less than a week after her husband, Jared Kushner, testified to the committee in a separate virtual meeting that lasted more than six hours.
Members of the panel said his testimony was helpful and they were hoping to further fill in the gaps with Ms Trump's help.
Ms Trump and Mr Kushner both served as advisers in the Trump White House. Their cooperation stands in contrast with some of Mr Trump's other top advisers, several of whom have refused to cooperate as the former president has fought the probe.
Mr Trump has tried to exert executive privilege over documents and interviews but, in many cases, has been overruled by courts or by Mr Biden, who has that authority as the sitting president.
The panel is using the interviews to compile a comprehensive record and will begin to release information in the coming months as it holds public hearings and releases a series of reports on the insurrection.
While Congress doesn't have the power to charge anyone with a crime, members of the panel say the objective is to create the most comprehensive record possible so nothing like it ever happens again.
The House is expected to vote this week to recommend contempt charges for two of Mr Trump's advisers, Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino, both of whom the committee says have been uncooperative.
It previously voted to recommend contempt charges against longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon, who defied a congressional subpoena, and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who ceased cooperating with the panel.
Mr Bannon was later indicted by a federal grand jury and is awaiting prosecution by the Justice Department. The Justice Department has not taken any action against Mr Meadows.
Other witnesses who are still close to the former president — and several who were in the White House that day — have declined to answer the committee's questions.
ABC/Wires
