Sarah Matthews has a political resume similar to a lot of conservatives
her age. At Kent State, she joined the College Republicans and made her
first pilgrimage to the annual CPAC conference in Washington. Sarah
interned on Capitol Hill for John Boehner and Sen. Rob Portman, both of
Ohio. And then she got a job doing comms for Republicans on the Hill.

But a few years later, in June 2020, she was working for Donald Trump.
Like a lot of her colleagues, she was well aware of Trump’s flaws, but
she agreed with his policies. When her mentor, Trump press secretary
Kayleigh McEnany invited Sarah to be her deputy, Sarah didn’t think
twice. It was a chaotic seven months, marked by the Lafayette Square
protest incident, Covid, the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg and the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Then came
Jan.
6.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

You probably remember Matthews from her primetime testimony to the Jan.
6 committee in July. She testified about her experience in the White
House during the insurrection and how Donald Trump’s actions that day so
disgusted her that she resigned that night. The January 6 committee is
back next week, on October 13th, for its first hearing since the one at
which Matthews appeared. 

Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza sat down with Sarah Matthews, former
deputy White House press secretary, to hear the full story of what it
was like for a young Republican to publicly break with the president,
upend her career, and experience the full wrath of Trump and his
supporters by cooperating with the January 6 committee.

Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO.
Sarah Matthews is a former White House deputy press secretary for the
Trump administration
Afra Abdullah is associate producer for POLITICO audio.
Kara Tabor is producer for POLITICO audio.
Brook Hayes is senior editor for POLITICO audio.
Adam Allington is senior producer for POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is executive producer for POLITICO audio.