Attacks on Cassidy Hutchinson were predictable, House committee member says

In her testimony, Hutchinson shared that former Secret Service Agent Anthony Ornato told her that Trump lunged towards the top of his element on Jan. 6 as a way to be pushed to the Capitol and be part of his supporters.

Lofgren mentioned that though Ornato’s reminiscence “doesn’t appear to be as precise,” Hutchinson’s testimony is in step with what others have mentioned.

“Certainly, her testimony that she directly overheard President Trump saying that he didn’t care if they had weapons, if the crowd had weapons, that they were not going to hurt him, and that they could march to the Capitol with their weapons after the speech. That was new and stunning, really,” she mentioned.

When requested by Todd if the House committee blindsided the Department of Justice with Hutchinson’s testimony, Lofgren mentioned she didn’t assume so and was stunned that the DOJ didn’t subpoena the previous aide themselves.

“I was surprised that the prosecutors were surprised. What are they doing over there?” Lofgren mentioned. “They have a much greater opportunity to enforce their subpoenas than our legislative committee does.”

The committee is anticipating to get a deposition on July 6 from Pat Cipollone, Trump’s White House counsel. Cipollone, who reportedly was a major source of pushback in opposition to Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, was subpoenaed after Hutchinson’s testimony “was so informative,” Lofgren instructed Todd. He had beforehand given an off-the-cuff interview to the committee however has expressed concern about govt privilege, which isn’t an “absolute immunity,” Lofgren defined.

President Joe Biden has waived govt privilege “on most occasions when it comes to getting the truth about the events leading up to January 6,” she mentioned.