Cipollone, who previously raised concerns with the committee about interview questions that may have required him to invoke executive privilege, testified before the committee Friday under subpoena.
A House Select Committee spokesman told CNN the panel’s interview with Cipollone was productive, but said no agreement had been reached to limit questions to avoid potential executive privilege issues.
“In our interview with Mr. Cipollone, the Committee received critical testimony on nearly every important topic in its investigation, reinforcing key points about Donald Trump’s misconduct and providing highly relevant new information that will play a central role in the upcoming hearings.” This includes information demonstrating Donald Trump’s supreme dereliction of duty. The testimony also corroborated key elements of Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony. Allegations of any pre-interview agreement to limit Cipilone’s testimony are completely false,” committee spokesman Tim Mulvey said.
Hutchinson, who was an aide to Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified before the committee on January 6 last month in a blockbuster hearing in which she described her White House experience as someone close to then-President Donald Trump’s inner circle Trump in the days leading up to and including the riot on Capitol Hill.
The special committee on Friday also asked Cipollone a series of questions about pardons, including potential pardons for the Trump family and whether Trump wants to pardon himself, a person familiar with the matter said.
Cipollone told the committee that he does not believe the 2020 election was stolen, but that he believes Trump did and still does, according to the source.
The committee also questioned Cipollone about the pressure campaign against then-Vice President Mike Pence over his ability to potentially decertify the results of the 2020 election while presiding over a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, the source said.
Earlier Friday, three different sources familiar with Cipollone’s testimony characterized it as very important and extremely helpful and told CNN that it will become apparent in upcoming public committee hearings.
The interview was videotaped and could be included in upcoming hearings, including one on Tuesday that will focus on how the violent mob came together and the role of extremist groups, as well as another hearing — which has not yet been scheduled — at Trump’s 187 minutes of inaction as rioters stormed the US Capitol.
CNN’s Ryan Nobles, Annie Grayer and Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.
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