Pence chief of staff Marc Short questioned by Jan. 6 committee

Several key players close to Trump are quietly cooperating.

January 31, 2022, 7:02 PM

Former Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, has answered questions from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, two sources familiar with the deposition told ABC News.

Short's testimony was given last week, sources said. It was first reported by CNN.

Short's decision to answer questions from committee investigators rather than fight the subpoena issued to him is the latest reminder that several key players close to former President Donald Trump are quietly cooperating with the Jan. 6 investigation.

The former president has repeatedly sought to discredit the work of the committee and urged his allies and aides not to comply.

In the six months since it was created, the select committee has interviewed more than 350 witnesses, received more than 300 substantive tips and issued more than 50 subpoenas -- for phone and email records, Trump administration documents, witness testimony and bank records, according to the committee's public disclosures and lawsuits filed by witnesses.

The panel has also received nearly 40,000 pages of records -- including text messages, emails and Trump administration documents provided by the National Archives in four separate tranches.

Short has served as an aide to Pence in various roles since the former vice president served in Congress. ABC News reported in December that the committee had subpoenaed Short for his cooperation with the investigation.

He was with the former vice president at the Capitol on Jan. 6 during the riot and was a fixture in Pence's orbit as Trump and his allies sought to pressure the vice president to overturn the election results from his ceremonial post presiding over the counting of electoral votes.

His legal team was in contact with attorneys for Trump, given the 45th president's monthslong effort to prevent the committee from obtaining his White House records from the National Archives.

ABC News' Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.

Related Topics