“[W]e were not asked to reappear before the Committee in response to yesterday’s new information and we plan on formally responding on the record,” he wrote in an e mail. “We have and will continue to make any member of the Secret Service available.”
During her testimony, Hutchinson additionally described an explosive account through which White House Counsel Pat Cipollone warned of authorized culpability if Trump adopted his supporters on a march to the White House. After weeks of publicly calling on Cipollone to cooperate with the investigation, on Wednesday night, the choose committee (*6*) him for a deposition scheduled for July 6.
Hutchinson has additionally testified to the committee that Cipollone repeatedly expressed authorized misgivings about Trump’s efforts to ship false presidential electors to Congress and numerous different features of his bid to remain in energy on Jan. 6, when Congress met to rely electoral votes.
Cipollone sat for an informal interview with investigators on April 13, 2022, alongside along with his deputy Patrick Philbin.
Hutchinson’s attorneys, Jody Hunt and William Jordan of Alston Bird, issued a press release on Hutchinson’s behalf Wednesday defending her testimony.
“Ms. Hutchinson stands by all of the testimony she provided yesterday, under oath, to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol,” they stated.
Jan. 6 committee members have praised Hutchinson for coming ahead, highlighting their confidence in her testimony. At the shut of the listening to, choose panel chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) addressed Trump World alumni who haven’t been forthcoming.
“Because of this courageous woman and others like her, your attempt to hide the truth from the American people will fail,” he stated.
The Secret Service assertion comes amid questions on two features of Hutchinson’s testimony: the story about Trump’s habits in his presidential car, which Hutchinson stated was relayed to her by prime White House safety aide Tony Ornato; and her declare to have written a word a couple of potential Trump assertion that may’ve aimed to quell the Jan. 6 violence.
And the committee’s lack of outreach within the days before Hutchinson’s listening to is notable as a result of the Secret Service has stated Jan. 6 investigators can access any documents or witnesses they deem related.
Earlier this yr, the committee already requested the top of Trump’s element on Jan. 6 — who was with Trump driving from the “Stop the Steal” rally to the White House that day — about that automobile journey. That agent, Robert Engel, gave testimony at the time that appears to be consistent with Hutchinson’s story however will not be identified to incorporate the gorgeous particulars Hutchinson described.
The totality of Engel’s earlier testimony, nonetheless, will not be absolutely identified.
It’s not clear why the choose panel didn’t search additional corroboration from the Secret Service because it deliberate Hutchinson’s listening to. Members of the choose committee have stated they welcome any extra details about the Secret Service altercation that witnesses would offer underneath oath.
The committee’s abrupt resolution to expedite a listening to with Hutchinson might have factored in; after initially planning for a two-week hiatus, the panel solely gave 24 hours’ public discover that the listening to was occurring.
Hutchinson has sat for 4 videotaped interviews with the choose committee this yr, together with one earlier this month after she switched attorneys and adopted a extra cooperative posture with the panel. Select committee vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) described these 4 interviews throughout remarks Tuesday, splicing in footage from them all through the two-hour public listening to.
With respect to the handwritten word’s authorship, a spokesperson for Trump White House legal professional Eric Herschmann has disputed a part of Hutchinson’s Tuesday testimony. She informed the choose panel that she wrote the word a couple of assertion for Trump to present on Jan. 6 calling for rioters to go away the Capitol, on the route of then-White House chief of employees Mark Meadows after he met with Herschmann. (The assertion in query was by no means issued.)
“The handwritten note that Cassidy Hutchinson testified was written by her was in fact written by Eric Herschmann on January 6, 2021,” stated a spokesperson for Herschmann. “All sources with direct knowledge and law enforcement have and will confirm that it was written by Mr. Herschmann.”
A Jan. 6 committee spokesperson stated it had already carried out its diligence on the word and “found Ms. Hutchinson’s account of this matter credible.” The spokesperson additionally downplayed the importance of the word’s authorship.
“While we understand that she and Mr. Herschmann may have differing recollections of who wrote the note, what’s ultimately important is that both White House officials believed that the President should have immediately instructed his supporters to leave the Capitol building,” the spokesperson stated.
“The note memorialized this. But Mr. Trump did not take that action at the time.”
