Filmmaker says Trumps did not have editorial control over documentary

Associated Press/Michael Wyke
Former President Donald Trump speaks during the Leadership Forum at the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston on May 27, 2022.

The filmmaker set to testify before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol says the Trump family had no control over what would be contained in the documentary he was filming about the former president’s campaign around the time of the riot.

“The Trumps did not request and were not granted any editorial control over the series,” a legal representative for filmmaker Alex Holder wrote in a statement posted to Holder’s social media on Thursday.

Holder told the Trumps “from the onset” of his work that he would be the one with editorial control over the project.

The director is expected to testify before the committee Thursday after providing the panel with never-before-seen raw footage from his work on the documentary series, “Unprecedented,” which is slated to run on Discovery+.

In a trailer of the series published on Wednesday, Trump is seen saying, “I think I treat people well, unless they don’t treat me well, in which case you go to war.”

The filmmaker also captured the moment then-Vice President Pence was told that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wanted him to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power.

In a subsequent clip posted to his Twitter account on Thursday, Holder showed footage of Trump stage-managing the on-camera set up before an interview.

“The Trumps did not have editorial control,” he said. “Full stop.”

Tags Capitol breach Capitol insurrection Capitol riot Donald Trump Jan. 6 Capitol attack Jan. 6 capitol riot Jan. 6 Committee Jan. 6 hearings Mike Pence Nancy Pelosi Trump administration

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