WASHINGTON (AP) — More witnesses are coming forward with new details about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot following former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s damning testimony last week against former President Donald Trump, a member of a House committee investigating the riot says.
The panel has already subpoenaed former White House adviser Pat Cipollone, who investigators continue to hope will testify Wednesday, and said it would also welcome follow-up details from members of the Secret Service with Trump that day.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., cited Hutchinson’s testimony that Trump wanted to join an angry mob of his supporters who marched on Jan. 6, 2021, to the Capitol, where they rioted, as particularly valuable in “inspiring” the more people to come forward as the commission prepares for at least two public hearings this month.
“Every day we get new people who come in and say, ‘Hey, I didn’t think maybe this part of the story that I knew was important,'” he said Sunday. “There will be much more information to come and stay tuned.”
The committee is intensifying its year-long investigation into the Jan. 6 attack and Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Subsequent hearings will aim to show how Trump illegally directed a violent mob at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and then failed to act quick action to stop an attack once it has started. Over the weekend, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the committee’s vice chairman, signaled that criminal referrals to the Justice Department could follow, including against the former Republican president.
The committee is also reviewing new documentary film footage from the final months of Trump’s administration, including interviews with Trump and members of his family.
In a television interview, Kinzinger declined to reveal the new information he was talking about and did not say who provided it. He said nothing had changed the commission’s confidence in her reliability.
“There’s information I can’t say yet,” he said. “We would certainly say that Cassidy Hutchinson testified under oath, we find her credible, and anyone who wants to cast contempt on that who was present firsthand should also testify under oath, not through anonymous sources.”
In a separate interview, another committee member, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said: “We are following additional leads. I think these leads will lead to new evidence.”
In Hutchinson’s appearance before the committee, she painted a picture of Trump as an angry, defiant president who tried to allow armed supporters to avoid security checks at a rally on the morning of Jan. 6 to protest his 2020 election defeat by Democrat Joe Biden.
According to Hutchinson, Cipollone was concerned that Trump would face criminal charges if he joined his supporters in the march to the Capitol.
Legal experts said Cassidy’s testimony is potentially problematic for Trump as federal prosecutors investigate potential criminal wrongdoing.
Cheney said in an interview that aired Sunday that the panel was still considering whether to issue recommendations to the Justice Department, noting that “there may be more than one criminal referral.”
Committee members said they hope Cipollone comes forward.
“He obviously has information about concerns about criminal wrongdoing, concerns about the president going to the Capitol that day, concerns about the chief of staff having bloody hands if they don’t do more to stop that violent attack on the Capitol, Schiff said. “It’s hard to imagine anyone more at the center of things.”
In her testimony, Cassidy recounted a conversation with Tony Ornato, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for operations, who she testified said Trump later grabbed the wheel of the president’s SUV when the Secret Service refused to let him to the Capitol after the rally .
However, this account has been disputed. Bobby Engel, the Secret Service agent who drove Trump, and Ornato are prepared to testify under oath that neither agent was assaulted and Trump never threw himself at the wheel, a person familiar with the matter said. The person did not want to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“We interviewed Mr. Ornato several times,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a member of the panel. “His memory doesn’t seem as accurate as hers. We would certainly welcome them back if they wish to do so.
The committee is also working to arrange an interview with Virginia “Ginny” Thomas, the conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She was asked to speak to the committee after revelations of her communications with Trump’s team in the run-up to and on the day of the Capitol riot.
Kinzinger appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Schiff was on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Cheney appeared on ABC’s “This Week” and Lofgren spoke on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
___
For full coverage of the January 6 hearings, go to
Add Comment