As the member of the U.S. House go on vacation for the July 4 holiday, the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is hoping to conduct some interviews.
Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said at Tuesday’s hearing the committee would reconvene in the weeks ahead, but it hoped to speak to more witnesses. Because of the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, he said, attempts to “hide the truth from the American people will fail.”
“If you’ve heard this testimony today and suddenly you remember things you couldn’t previously recall, or there are some details you’d like to clarify, or you discovered some courage you had hidden away somewhere, our doors remain open,” Thompson said.
Hutchinson, the former aide to then-chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified that she overheard Trump say on Jan. 6, 2021, that he wanted his supporters who were armed to be able to come inside the security perimeter at his rally and then march to the Capitol. She also testified that the White House was aware of the potential for violence before the rally.
Hutchinson said during her testimony that she heard Trump had grabbed for the steering wheel in his vehicle after the rally because the driver wouldn’t take him to the Capitol. Secret Service agents are reportedly willing to dispute this detail while under oath, according to CNN.
Fox News anchors had no words after host Bret Baier mentioned the power of the testimony from the hearing.
“It would have been great to hear Jim Jordan or some congressmen say some other angle to this, but the testimony in and of itself is really, really powerful,” Baier said.
Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans on the committee, tweeted that former White House counsel Pat Cipollone should testify on the record.
Hutchinson testified that Cipollone told her if Trump went to the Capitol after the rally, it would be “legally a terrible idea for us.”
“This would be legally a terrible idea for us. We’re — we have serious legal concerns if we go up to the Capitol that day,” Hutchinson recalled Cipollone telling her. “And he then urged me to continue relaying that to Mr. Meadows, because it’s my understanding that Mr. Cipollone thought that Mr. Meadows was indeed pushing this, along with the president.”
Trump denied Hutchinson’s testimony in posts on his social network.
“I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, other than I heard very negative things about her,” Trump wrote, according to screenshots. “She is bad news!”
Trump also denied wanting people with weapons to come into his rally.
“Who would ever want that? Not me!” he wrote.
A CBS News-YouGov poll released Sunday found 50% of U.S. adults believe Trump planned to stay in office through illegal means and 46% believe the committee should recommend Trump be charged with crimes.