Marc Short, who was a top aide to former Vice President Mike Pence during the Trump administration, confirmed Monday that he has testified before a federal grand jury investigating the U.S. Capitol riot.
Why it matters: Pence's former chief of staff is the highest-profile Trump administration official known to have testified in the Department of Justice's criminal investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
- It suggests the DOJ is stepping up its investigation into the Capitol attack and attempts to overturn the 2020 election allegedly backed by former President Trump, per the New York Times — which, along with the Wall Street Journal, reported earlier on Monday that former Pence counsel Greg Jacob also testified before the grand jury.
What he's saying: Short told several outlets he had received a subpoena for the federal grand jury with which he complied by providing testimony last week.
- While he said he couldn't comment further on the testimony, he opened up to ABC News on Monday night on his feelings about the Capitol riot.
- "I think that having the Capitol ransacked the way that it was, I think did present liability and danger," Short told ABC News' Linsey Davis. "And I think the Secret Service did a phenomenal job that day."
The bottom line: "I think that the bigger risk and despite the way perhaps it was characterized in the hearings last week, candidly, is that if the mob had gotten closer to the vice president, I do think there would have been a massacre in the Capitol that day," Short told Davis.
The big picture: Short and Jacob both testified earlier this year before the House select committee investigating the insurrection.
- The Jan. 6 panel considers Pence a key witness into what former Trump was doing in the days leading up to the Capitol riot.
- Short told CBS News earlier this month that if former vice presidents were to come under subpoena to testify it would set a "very risky precedent."
Go deeper: Secret Service, NSC feared Pence would be trapped at Capitol on Jan. 6
Editor's note: This article has been updated with further context.
