Former Trump aide John McEntee appears before grand jury on Trump-related investigations

By Paula Reid, Hannah Rabinowitz, Casey Gannon and Kristen Holmes, CNN

Former Trump White House aide John McEntee appeared on Friday before a grand jury on Trump-related investigations at the federal courthouse in Washington, DC.

McEntee had been subpoenaed by the Justice Department as part of its sprawling probe, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN. He identified himself when approached by a CNN reporter but was pulled away by his attorney. McEntee was spotted entering the grand jury room on Friday morning.

The Justice Department investigation, led by special counsel Jack Smith, is focused on efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to undermine the 2020 election results.

The grand jury has been meeting for weeks, but McEntee’s appearance marks the first public sign of activity in the new year since Smith returned to the United States from an overseas post as a war crimes prosecutor. Smith was appointed special counsel late last year.

A spokesman for Smith declined to comment.

McEntee worked as a personal aide for Trump as well as the head of the White House Presidential Personnel Office.

McEntee sat for a lengthy and at times sprawling interview with the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. McEntee said he did not recall a lot of conversations and exchanges, particularly around the effort to overturn the 2020 election, even when presented with documents in his handwriting or his own text message exchanges.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.