WASHINGTON, June 30 – A conference team investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol announced on Wednesday that it had sent President Donald Trump’s attorney to the White House, Pat Cipollone, to testify on Trump’s actions on the day. of melee.
The subpoena seeking to be included in Cipollone followed a shocking public testimony Tuesday from a former White House aide, who told the panel that Cipollone had warned him they could face “every crime imaginable” if Trump went to the Capitol on January 6 after delivering a heated speech to his supporters.
“The Select Committee’s investigation has provided evidence that Mr. Cipollone repeatedly raised legal and other concerns about President Trump’s activities on January 6 and the previous days,” the statement said.
“Any concern Mr. Cipollone has about the rights of the office he has been holding is a need for his evidence,” the committee said.
Cipollone was not immediately available for comment.
Cassidy Hutchinson, Trump’s assistant to the White House, Mark Meadows, told the committee on Tuesday that Trump wanted to leave the Capitol meeting and that he grabbed the wheel of an armed president’s SUV when he heard the Secret Service would cooperate. not to take him to the Capitol, where thousands of his supporters revolted.
“We will be charged with every crime you could think of,” Hutchinson Cipollone told Trump, “Trump was going to the Capitol on January 6.
“We need to make sure this does not happen, this would be a very bad idea for us. We have a lot of legal concerns if we go up to the Capitol that day,” said Cipollone, Hutchinson testified.
But an investigation led to questions Wednesday about what steps it has taken to bolster Hutchinson’s account that Trump struggled with Secret Service agents.
Hutchinson testified that Tony Ornato, the chief executive of the Secret Service, told him that Trump, a Republican, had a problem with agents after giving a heated speech to his supporters outside the White House that morning when he lied and repeated widespread fraud over his election loss. to Democrat Joe Biden.
U.S. media, citing Secret Service sources, said Trump’s chief security officer, Robert Engel, and the driver were determined to refute Hutchinson’s testimony that Trump had tried to seize the steering wheel.
Engel and the driver did not make public statements Wednesday. Trump on Tuesday denied holding a tire.
Assistant to the U.S. House of Representatives committee on Jan. 6 declined to comment on whether the committee had consulted with Secret Service agents or other officials with specific information about the incident described by Hutchinson.
“Ms. Hutchinson agrees with all the evidence she gave yesterday, under oath, to the Select Committee that will investigate the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol,” her lawyers Jody Hunt and William Jordan said in a statement Wednesday.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Wednesday that the committee did not want to confirm the details of Hutchinson’s testimony 10 days before the trial, which was scheduled for an extraordinary day. The Secret Service in a statement on Tuesday said it was cooperating with the committee.
Guglielmi did not immediately respond to questions about the 10-day significance or whether the committee contacted the agency earlier to discuss Trump’s conduct on January 6.
The protest was aimed at disrupting Congress, with Deputy President Mike Pence presiding over it, in confirming Biden’s election.
“If it is true that the Secret Service denies allegations against President Trump of assault and assault, the matter goes beyond fruitless gossip,” US Senator Lindsey Graham said on Wednesday. “The committee, with a little effort, could have told the other side of the story but opted NO because it wanted more touching topics.”
The nine-member committee on January 6 is made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans.
Trump supporters have never challenged other revelations in Hutchinson’s testimony. This includes Trump’s information – and authorization – of his Washington supporters’ armed robbery on Jan. 6 and that he did not doubt the riots demanding that Pence be hanged.
Hutchinson also testified that Trump was known for his violent outburst at the White House that left food scattered on walls and dishes raised.
Also on Wednesday, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas’ lawyer, wife of U.S. Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas, demanded that the committee provide better “reasons” for seeking evidence from him.
Earlier this month, Thomas told the Daily Caller he was keen to “clear up the misconceptions” about his activism in dictatorial political rallies and his presence at the Trump rally on January 6. read more
As Meadows’ former deputy, Hutchinson, now 26, has been among White House staff for the past few months of 2020, often flying to Air Force One, friendly with staff and details of Trump’s Secret Service. His office was a 10-minute walk from the Oval presidential office.