Jan. 6 Committee Adviser Says Someone in the White House Phoned a Rioter During the Capitol Attack

Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) said he learned during his time as a technical adviser for the Jan. 6 committee that someone inside the White House was in communication with a Capitol rioter as the building was overrun.

The former Air Force intelligence officer claims in an upcoming 60 Minutes interview.

The show teased the interview on Twitter Friday with a clip of Riggleman speaking to CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker.

“Did it hit you at one point that this is way bigger than it appeared in the beginning?” Whitaker asked the former GOP lawmaker.

“Absolutely,” Riggleman said. “You get a real a-ha moment when you see that the White House switchboard had connected to a rioter’s phone while it’s happening. That’s a pretty big a-ha moment.”

Whitaker interrupted Riggleman in the interview snippet released by 60 Minutes.

“Wait a minute,” he said. “Someone in the White House was calling one of the rioters while the riot was going on – on Jan. 6?”

Riggleman said, “Absolutely.”

Whitaker inquired if Riggleman knew the parties on both ends of the call.

“I only know one end of that call. I don’t know the White House end, which I believe is more important,” Riggleman responded. “But the thing is the American people need to know that there are link connections that need to be explored more.”

Riggleman concluded:

From my perspective, being in counterterrorism, if the White House, even if it’s a short call and it’s a connected call, who is actually making that phone call?

[…]

“Was it an accidental call? When the White House has just happened to call numbers that somebody just misdialed a rioter that day, on Jan. 6? Probably not.”

The full interview will air Sunday at 7 p.m. ET Sunday on CBS.