On Wednesday, the House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters on January 6, 2021 released the transcript of its interview with Kirk, who, under oath, was questioned about his role in the riots and in casting doubt on the 2020 presidential election.
Kirk—like many others interviewed by the Jan. 6 committee—invoked his right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment to avoid responding to the panel’s questions about his age, his highest level of education and his role in founding Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and its affiliate Turning Point Action (TPA), a conservative youth activist organization which the New York Times reported to be funded by conservative megadonors.
In response to all but one of the more than 70 questions the committee asked Kirk during the interview on May 24, the activist responded: “I am invoking my Fifth Amendment right.”
The committee asked the conservative activist about his whereabouts on January 6, 2021 and whether he knew before news of the riots broke out that “something like that” could happen on the day.
The committee quoted a statement Kirk made on his radio talk show on the same morning of the Capitol riots, saying the “vice president is prayerfully considering possibly at the very end of this sending it back to the State legislatures for clarification.” Kirk invoked the Fifth Amendment and did not respond to the question.
Kirk only responded to a question about what state he resided in. “I live in currently Scottsdale, Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona,” he said, according to the official transcript.
A few days before the attack on the Capitol, Kirk wrote in a now-deleted tweet that TPA would be sending more than 80 buses of Trump supporters to Washington, D.C., to “fight for the president.”
“The historic event will likely be one of the largest and most consequential in American history,” Kirk tweeted. “The team at @TrumpStudents & Turning Point Action are honored to help make this happen, sending 80+ buses full of patriots to DC to fight for this president.”
Questioned about his organization’s involvement in busing people to and from Washington for Trump’s rally on January 6, 2021, Kirk invoked again the Fifth Amendment.
The Jan. 6 committee released a total of 34 transcripts on Wednesday, including that of Kirk, showing that several witnesses invoked their right to the Fifth Amendment—some as many as over a hundred times.
Newsweek contacted TPUSA for comment.
