Mick Mulvaney, ex-White House acting chief of staff, testifies before the January 6 committee

By Melanie Zanona, CNN

Former acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney was seen by reporters leaving his interview Thursday with the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021.

Mulvaney resigned from his position as special envoy to Northern Ireland in the aftermath of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. He previously served as former President Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff until March 2020, when the President replaced him with Mark Meadows.

As he left the interview Thursday evening, Mulvaney told reporters, “I haven’t talked to anyone in the White House for a long time,” when asked if he spoke with anyone in the White House between December 2020 and the Capitol attack.

Asked by CNN’s John Berman on Friday about his appearance before the committee, Mulvaney said he was questioned about tweets and texts he sent on January 6, his involvement in Trump’s campaign and discussions he had around election day. He also criticized the committee and its structure as “politically biased” but said they are getting “good and sound information” from Republicans whom they have spoken with.

“It was not a fight, it was a free-flowing discussion of information that I thought was helpful,” Mulvaney said on “New Day,” adding that his testimony lasted about two and a half hours.

He also said there were general questions about processes in the White House, including how visitors would see the president and noted “clearly they’re trying to figure out” how lawyers Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and others in Trump’s inner circle got the access they received.

CBS News reported earlier on Mulvaney’s appearance on Thursday.

Rep. Liz Cheney, who serves as the committee’s vice chair, told CNN over the weekend that the committee would likely be speaking with more people associated with the former President.

The Wyoming Republican said the committee had “many interviews scheduled that are coming up. We anticipate talking to additional members of the President’s Cabinet. We anticipate talking to additional members of his campaign.”

The committee has also been engaging with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he could sit for a closed-door deposition with the panel as soon as this week, multiple sources familiar with the committee’s schedule tell CNN.

Pompeo’s potential appearance comes as the committee has shown an increased interest in former members of Trump’s Cabinet.

Another source connected to the committee’s investigation previously told CNN they are particularly interested in conversations surrounding the 25th Amendment after the events of January 6.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, a growing number of Republican leaders and Cabinet officials told CNN that they believed Trump should be removed from office before January 20.

Invoking the 25th Amendment would have required then-Vice President Mike Pence and a majority of the Cabinet to vote to remove Trump from office due to his inability to “discharge the powers and duties of his office” — an unprecedented step.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Chandelis Duster Annie Grayer contributed to this report.