Two former Trump administration officials seen at federal courthouse where Jan. 6 grand jury meets

By Casey Gannon

Two former Trump administration officials were seen Thursday at the Washington, DC, federal courthouse where the grand jury investigating the January 6 US Capitol attack meets.

Marc Short, the former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, was compelled to testify to the January 6 grand jury on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter. It was his second time testifying.

Short had originally declined to answer some questions because of former President Donald Trump’s claims of executive privilege.

He was seen walking out of the courthouse. Asked why he was there, Short said: “I got nothing to offer you.”

Short previously testified this summer in front of the grand jury investigating the attack on the Capitol. His appearance at the court Thursday also comes as the Justice Department and attorneys for Trump are engaged in a secret court fight to stop a federal grand jury from getting information from former Trump administration officials.

Trump adviser and former national security aide Kash Patel was also seen walking into an area where the grand jury meets. Patel did not answer questions from reporters about why he was at the court. A spokeswoman for Patel told CNN she was not aware Patel was at the courthouse.

A senior Pence ally, Short thwarted Trump’s attempts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. He made it clear that Pence wouldn’t go along with Trump’s ham-handed and possible illegal scheme to overturn the results during the Electoral College certification on January 6.

Short has also cooperated with the House select committee investigating January 6.

Unlike Short, Patel was a Trump loyalist, who has peddled false claims and conspiracies about the “deep state” and the 2020 election. Patel was a senior national security official at the Trump White House, before moving over to the Pentagon during the final months of Trump’s tenure.

There were even plans during the transition to fire the CIA director and install Patel in her place, so he could declassify documents that Trump believed proved his “deep state” conspiracies.

This story has been updated with additional details.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Pamela Brown contributed to this report.