Stephanie Grisham told Capitol-riot committee Trump held secret meetings days before Jan. 6, report says

• Grisham told House investigators Trump held secret White House meetings before Jan. 6, The Guardian reported.
• She said that only a few of his aides were aware of the meetings, the report said.

Former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham told the House committee investigating the Capitol riot that former President Donald Trump had secret meetings in his residence in the days running up to January 6, The Guardian reported.

Two sources told The Guardian that she told the committee that Trump held the meetings, and that only a few of his aides were aware of them.

She said she was not sure exactly who attended but identified Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and the White House chief usher Timothy Harleth, as two people who scheduled and directed participants to the meetings, The Guardian reported.

It is not clear what was discussed at those meetings.

Grisham resigned from the White House on January 6, 2021, following the Capitol riot.

The sources told The Guardian that Grisham's interview with the January 6 committee was more significant than expected.

Trump spoke at a rally in Washington, DC, shortly before the riot and encouraged the crowd to march on the Capitol, though he did not go himself. House investigators are looking at what role Trump played in the riot.

Grisham has previously said that Trump held secret meetings as president. She told CNN late last year that Trump held off-the-record meetings so they could not be recorded in the national archives, saying he was "paranoid of leaks."

As well as press secretary, Grisham also served as chief of staff to the former first lady, Melania Trump, and as White House communications director. Grisham later wrote a tell-all book of her time in those roles, provoking anger from the Trumps.

Grisham has been critical of Trump since she left the White House, and said this month that she was working with other former Trump officials to try to find a way to "stop" him as they predict he will run for the presidency again.

"I've been watching this past year as the president continues to manipulate people and divide our country because he has a fragile ego, and that's all there is to it," she said.