Top five takeaways from the newest trove of Jan. 6 transcripts

1. William Barr claimed that there was talk of seizing voting machines

Though Barr failed to give any specifics, claiming he couldn’t remember, he did say that he believed the talks were, “related to Michigan machines.”

“I can’t say that with a 100% assurance, but I don’t think it was a general countrywide seizure,” he said.

His statements about the talks of possible voter machine seizures were presaged by suggestions of doubt, giving him some plausible deniability.

JAN. 6 PANEL RELEASES 50 MORE WITNESS TRANSCRIPTS DAY AFTER RELEASING FINAL REPORT

2. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) secretly urged Barr to quash election “conspiracy theories.”

Barr described a phone call he received from McConnell after the election in which the senate minority leader urged him to make an effort to quash “conspiracy theories” about the election.

“And I think he was getting worried about a constitutional crisis, and he wanted to know my views on these fraud claims. And I told him I think we’re looking into them,” Barr said, referring to McConnell. “And he— he said, ‘You’re in a unique position. When i look around, I mean, you’re the best person to be speaking out on this and I would be thinking about, and injecting some reality into this thing, because we were getting overwhelmed with all these rumors and conspiracy theories.’ And it was clear, a big portion of the population was thinking that there was rampant fraud, and he was encouraging me to speak up.”

The revelation is likely to result in McConnell further drawing the ire of Trump, who has already made a habit of bashing the Kentucky Republican.

3. Elaine Chao’s frosty departure

Former Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao told the committee about the tense conditions she left under, resigning in the days after the riot. She implied to interviewers that she blamed Trump’s rhetoric for the violence of the day, and said the riot conflicted with her “philosophy.”

She went on to say that she resigned through White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, not wanting to speak with Trump directly. Her reasoning given was that she didn’t believe the conversation would be “productive.”

4. Barr, Chao, and Pompeo denied reports of talks about the 25th amendment.

Barr, Chao, and Pompeo were all directly asked by investigators if there were talks behind the scenes about invoking the 25th amendment to remove President Trump. All denied the reports, either by denying the conversations took place or saying they did not remember having the conversations.

“They did not approach me, and I was not aware of any discussions within the Cabinet on the 25th Amendment,” Chao told the committee.

Meanwhile, both Pompeo and Barr said they did not remember talking with anyone about invoking the 25th amendment.

“The fact is I just don’t recall whether the 25th Amendment was discussed. It could have been. I can’t recall that,” said Barr.

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5. Ivanka said that Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) called her in the middle of the riot

Ivanka told investigators that Collins called her in the middle of the riot in order to urge her to do more to get her father to attempt to call for an end to the chaos.

“It was a brief conversation, I remember her saying that the president needed to engage in stopping what was happening, generally speaking, echoing the sentiment of many, that we should all be doing everything that we can,” Ivanka said, referring to Collins.