众议院特别委员会正在调查1月6日攻击据知情人士透露，美国国会大厦正在与前白宫法律顾问帕特·西波尔隆(Pat Cipollone)积极讨论在即将举行的听证会上公开露面的可能性。
Cipollone和前白宫副法律顾问Pat Philbin此前在4月份与委员会调查人员进行了一次非正式采访。
Cipollone是当时总统身边为数不多的助手之一唐纳德·特朗普1月6日在白宫西翼。美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)此前报道称，在国会大厦遇袭后的几天里，他建议特朗普，特朗普可能会因其鼓励支持者在国会大厦游行的角色而面临民事责任。
据消息人士透露，有一些情况可能会使西波洛内最终出庭变得复杂，包括谁对他进行讯问以及讯问多长时间的问题;是否存在任何持续的特权问题;以及特朗普是否会认可他的出现。
消息人士称，前白宫副法律顾问迈克尔·紫癜(Michael Purpura)是特朗普首次参议院弹劾审判期间为他辩护的法律团队的一部分，他正在代表西波尔隆与委员会调查人员进行讨论。
熟悉审议情况的消息人士称，奇波洛内还明确表示，他的证词将仅限于前司法部高级官员杰弗里·克拉克(Jeffrey Clark)利用DOJ的权力进一步推动川普推翻2020年大选的企图。
Cipollone的代表没有回应ABC的置评请求。该委员会的一名发言人拒绝置评。
2020年5月19日，白宫法律顾问Pat Cipollone在白宫东厅参加内阁会议。
亚历克斯·王/盖蒂图片，文件
消息人士称，委员会希望确保西波洛内与前代理司法部长杰弗里·罗森(Jeffrey Rosen)和他当时的副手理查德·多诺霍(Richard Donoghue)以及DOJ前首席律师之一史蒂夫·恩格尔(Steve Engel)在一个小组上的公开证词。罗森和多诺霍都收到了委员会的正式邀请。
Cipollone和Philbin都是1月3日椭圆形办公室会议的一部分，特朗普坚持用克拉克取代罗森，克拉克是特朗普的忠诚者，曾发誓要利用司法部调查选举。
在那次会议上，官员们还讨论了克拉克提出的一项建议寄信佐治亚州官员敦促该州官员调查毫无根据的欺诈指控，以期推翻乔·拜登总统在该州的胜利。
根据多诺霍的说法，奇波洛内和菲尔宾向特朗普明确表示，如果克拉克就职，他们将辞职，奇波洛内将佐治亚州的信描述为“谋杀-自杀协议”，将“伤害它触及的任何人和任何东西”，根据参议院委员会去年发布的一份报告，该报告详细说明了特朗普及其盟友试图利用DOJ推翻选举的情况。
ABC新闻之前获取并发布电子邮件日期是2020年12月28日，显示克拉克传阅那封信的草稿，他想让罗森和多诺霍签字。
Top Trump White House lawyer in active talks with Jan. 6 committee to testify publicly
The House select committee investigating theJan. 6 attackon the U.S. Capitol is in active discussions with former White House counsel Pat Cipollone regarding a potential public appearance in one of their upcoming hearings, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Cipollone and former deputy White House counsel Pat Philbin previously met with committee investigators for an informal interview in April.
Cipollone was one of the few aides who was with then-PresidentDonald Trumpin the West Wing on Jan. 6. ABC News previously reported that in the days following the attack on the Capitol, he advised Trump that Trump could potentially face civil liability in connection with his role encouraging supporters to march on the Capitol.
According to sources, there are a number of circumstances that could serve to complicate any eventual appearance by Cipollone -- including the issue of who questions him and for how long; whether there are any ongoing issues of privilege; and whether Trump would approve of his appearance.
Michael Purpura, the former deputy White House counsel who was part of the legal team defending Trump during his first Senate impeachment trial, is representing Cipollone in his discussions with committee investigators, sources said.
Cipollone has also made clear that his testimony would be restricted to the effort undertaken by former top Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark to use the powers of the DOJ to further Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election, sources familiar with the deliberations said.
Representatives for Cipollone did not respond to ABC's request for comment. A spokesperson for the committee declined to comment.
The committee hopes to secure Cipollone's public testimony on a panel with former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and his then-deputy Richard Donoghue, along with one of DOJ's former top attorneys, Steve Engel, sources said. Both Rosen and Donoghue have received formal invitations from the committee to appear.
Both Cipollone and Philbin were part of a Jan. 3 Oval Office meeting where Trump insisted on replacing Rosen with Clark, a Trump loyalist who had vowed to use the Department of Justice to investigate the election.
The officials in that meeting also debated a proposal by Clark tosend a letterto state officials in Georgia urging officials in the state to investigate unfounded claims of fraud with an eye toward overturning President Joe Biden's victory in the state.
According to Donoghue, Cipollone and Philbin made it clear to Trump that they would resign if Clark were installed, with Cipollone describing the Georgia letter as a "murder-suicide pact" that would "damage anyone and anything that it touches," according to a Senate committee report released last year that detailed instances where Trump and his allies sought to use the DOJ to overturn the election.
ABC News previouslyobtained and published emailsdated Dec. 28, 2020, showing Clark circulating that draft letter, which he wanted Rosen and Donoghue to sign off on.
