Stephen Miller, a close aide and speechwriter for former President Donald Trump, returned to provide testimony to a federal grand jury in Washington on Tuesday. The courts had mandated that Miller and other senior advisors must disclose their accounts of conversations with Trump related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.
It is expected that Miller will be questioned about his phone call with Trump shortly before the Ellipse rally and other discussions they had about the election. The grand jury is gathering evidence as part of a criminal investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith.
Miller's arrival at the federal courthouse on Tuesday, accompanied by his attorney and prosecutors from Smith's office, is the latest in a series of witness testimonies secured by the 2020 election investigators.
Miller and his lawyer refused to comment on Tuesday.
In late March, the presiding judge for the grand jury rejected Trump's efforts to shield his presidential communications from investigators. This decision led to witnesses like Miller, who had previously avoided answering certain questions, to testify once more.
Miller had previously testified before the grand jury in November. At that time, he refrained from responding to some questions due to Trump's invocation of executive privilege to maintain the confidentiality of certain conversations during his presidency.
Miller also declined to reveal information about discussions with Trump concerning the then-president's refusal to accept the election results if he were to lose, as well as conversations about speeches Miller drafted after the election, as documented in a publicly accessible transcript.
The House investigation discovered that Miller incorporated "POTUS edits" into Trump's Ellipse speech following a call with Trump on January 6. These edits referenced then-Vice President Mike Pence's supposed ability to reverse the election outcome – a power Pence himself believed he lacked.
The draft stated, “We will see whether Mike Pence enters history as a truly great and courageous leader. All he has to do is refer the illegally-submitted electoral votes back to the states.” Another White House advisor requested Miller to remove the Pence reference from the speech. Following a heated phone call between Pence and Trump, the speechwriting team reintroduced a line about Pence.
The special counsel's office has been exploring Trump's pressure campaign on Pence through testimonies from several witnesses in recent weeks. Pence could potentially testify as early as this week.
The grand jury proceedings remain confidential, and the special counsel's office has not filed any charges.
