The congressional select committee on the Jan. 6 riot plans to request the “voluntary cooperation” of Fox News host Sean Hannity, Axios reported Tuesday, citing a source with direct knowledge of the plan.
The report was not specific as to how or what the committee sought from Hannity, whether it be an appearance to testify or a hand-over of information. Hannity was a close adviser to former President Donald Trump during his term.
Last month, the committee revealed that Hannity was in text communication with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the Capitol insurgency, urging him to convince the president to stop rioters.
Hannity had said on his show the following night that all of the Trump supporters and rioters should be arrested and prosecuted. There are no further details yet on what sort of cooperation the committee will request of him. Officials have said that Hannity was among several other Fox News hosts that were found texting Meadows during the attacks in January.
Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham and Brian Kilmeade were also recently revealed to have texted with Meadows on Jan. 6, urging him to halt the riot. In the last month, the House select committee has been investigating the Capitol riot and proceeding with holding Meadows in criminal contempt on Congress for not complying with a subpoena. Rep. Liz Cheney read the text exchanges aloud during the hearing. One from Ingraham said, “The president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. … He is destroying his legacy.”
Another text from Hannity to Meadows on the same day said, “Can he make a statement?… Ask people to leave the Capitol?”
See video of CNN’s reaction to the Axios report below.