Trump White House Switchboard Connected to January 6 Rioter’s Phone While Riot Happening, Ex-GOP Representative Says

Former Virginia Republican Representative Denver Riggleman sat down with "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker and talked about the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building.

During the interview, he said the links between the Donald Trump White House and the Capitol insurrectionists "need to be explored more."

His biggest bombshell revelation was that the White House switchboard had connected to a January 6 rioter's phone while the riot was happening.

Riggleman was a Republican congressman representing Virginia up until 2021. He then worked as an adviser to the January 6 Committee until April. Before that though, he was also a military intelligence officer who knew his way around telecommunications.

White House Switchboard Connected to January 6 Rioter Was No Accident Says, Denver Riggleman

According to Vanity Fair, the former House Republican was asked by Bill Whitaker if the call had been an accident. To this, Denver Riggleman replied: "When the White House just happened to call numbers, that somebody misdialed a rioter that day, on January 6? Probably not."

In a clip for the "60 Minutes" interview that will be aired on Sunday night, the former military intelligence officer also said that he already knew who the rioter was. However, he still does not know who in the White House that rioter was talking to.

Bill Kristol, who knew about White House communications as former chief of staff to former Vice President Dan Quayle, shared his concerns regarding the revelation.

In a tweet, he said: "I placed many calls through the wonderful people at the White House switchboard during an earlier Republican Administration. I'm confident I never asked them to connect me with someone assaulting the U.S. Capitol. But that was a different era and a different Republican party."

According to CBS News, Riggleman left the January 6 committee in April, before the committee aired its prime-time hearings.

There had been a disagreement between the former congressman and the committee over White House phone numbers, which were always kept secret to protect every administration. Riggleman wrote in a soon-to-be-released book that he begged the January 6 committee to push harder to identify the numbers.

January 6 Committee Aware of Connection Between White House Switchboard and Capitol Rioter's Phone

After the clip of Denver Riggleman's "60 Minutes" interview was released, January 6 committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told NBC News they were aware of the call.

He said they cannot be specific about that particular call, and they have been aware of "lots of contacts between the people in the White House and different people that were involved."

The Maryland representative added that the call was one of the thousands they are aware of and explained that their job was to "put everything into a comprehensive portrait and narrative timeline of what took place."

Another committee member, Rep. Adam Schiff (D.-California), said the panel has already looked into all of the issues Riggleman has raised. However, he did not offer any further information.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Riggleman: White House Switchboard Called a Capitol Rioter on January 6 - From 60 Minutes