- The January 6 House Select Committee released almost 50 witness testimony transcripts Friday.
- One transcript details the committee's interview with Hope Hicks, a former Trump ally.
In a spate of witness deposition transcripts released on Friday by the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, a transcript reveals that former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks told the committee that former President Donald Trump felt like the blame he received for the riot on Capitol Hill was unfair.
Once one of Trump's closest allies, 34-year-old Hicks sat voluntarily for witness testimony, a video of which aired during the committee's final hearing on Monday. She was one of few people in Trump's orbit that communicated to Trump that he lost the 2020 election, according to the transcript released Friday.
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Hicks talked to Trump on January 11, 2021, days after the deadly insurrection.
"He asked me if I thought it was really as bad as everyone was making it out to be. And my answer was, yes, I thought it was," the transcript reads.
She added: "I think he felt like t wasn't fair — the response to it wasn't fair."
Hicks, who resigned from the White House on January 12, 2021, said she communicated to Trump that he should change his approach and appear more "rational" to observers.
"And I was just telling him, I think, you know, the more rational you are and restrained you are, the more extreme everybody else will look, so things like banning you from social media I think will backfire, and that, you know, if you focus on the things people really care about and not the election, I think that things will get better quickly for you, in terms of politically," Hicks told the committee.
She said Trump also asked her if she believed the election was stolen, to which she objected.
"And then we just sort of exchanged some, you know, pleasantries, and that was it," she added.
"I just think that he felt like, you know, blaming him for everything that transpired wasn't fair," Hicks continued.
The committee released a thorough report on Thursday of its findings while investigating the Capitol riot and how Trump played a part in it. They also recommended to the Justice Department that Trump face criminal charges for his role in the insurrection.
Hicks was not immediately reachable for comment.