Another yarn spun during Jan. 6 committee hearings unravels — this time Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony
Congressional investigators released a report this week exposing the politicization of the Jan. 6 Select Committee along with its tactical myopia and apparent willingness to suppress critical facts when "legislatively prosecut[ing]" former President Donald Trump.
The report released Monday by House Subcommittee on Oversight Chairman Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) indicates that the Jan. 6 committee deleted records; hid multiple transcribed interviews; failed to turn over recordings to Republican lawmakers; suppressed evidence that contradicted Democrats' preferred narrative; and colluded with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who ultimately launched an election interference trial of Trump in Georgia.
The Oversight committee's insights into Cassidy Hutchinson's 2022 testimony and its surrounding context are perhaps best illustrative of the broader problems affecting the Jan. 6 committee's so-called investigation.
The "Initial Findings Report" noted that Hutchinson, who served as assistant to Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows, participated in six transcribed interviews and one highly publicized hearing with the Jan. 6 committee. Apparently, in her fourth transcribed interview on June 20, 2022, Hutchinson managed to provide the committee with something they could sink their teeth into.
Hutchinson told the tale of how Trump supposedly got in a scuffle with a Secret Service agent and attempted to commandeer the presidential limousine.
Provided with this provocative story, the committee scheduled a public hearing eight days later with Hutchinson as the key witness, reportedly without even bothering to interview other witnesses who may have provided contradictory testimony.
Former U.S. Rep Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) pressed Hutchinson to testify under oath during the public hearing about what happened after Trump was driven away from his speech at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, even though Hutchinson wasn't in the Suburban with Trump at the time — all the more evident because she appears to have erroneously said Trump was in "The Beast," the presidential limousine, when leaving the Ellipse.
Hutchinson told the committee about a conversation she allegedly had at the White House with Tony Ornato, Trump's former White House deputy chief of staff.
"Tony described [Trump] as being irate. The president said something to the effect of, 'I'm the f'ing president, take me up to the Capitol now,' to which [Secret Service Agent Bobby Engel] responded, 'Sir, we have to go back to the West Wing,'" said Hutchinson. "The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm, said, 'Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel.'"
Hutchinson suggested that Trump then lunged toward Engel, who she indicated was present for Ornato's later retelling of the event but did not contribute.
In the lead-up to the public hearing, the report indicated that "the Select Committee did not interview either of the two USSS agents referenced in her testimony, nor did the Select Committee interview any other individual implicated in her testimony."
The report further noted that the Jan. 6 committee only got around to interviewing the Secret Service agents months later when "it was obvious Republicans would win control of the House."
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who served as chair of the Jan. 6 committee, reportedly admitted to failing to comply with House Rules when refusing to archive transcripts from transcribed interview or depositions of White House and USSS personnel.
"Many of these White House and USSS employees were either with President Trump or aware of his actions on January 6, yet none of their witness transcripts were archived with the House Clerk or provided to the Subcommittee," said the report. "Notably, the Select Committee published over 200 transcripts online, but did not publish these select transcripts."
It turns out that some of these hidden transcripts indicated Hutchinson's "sensational" story was a thing of fiction.
Only after Chairman Loudermilk leaned on the White House for several months to provide transcripts of the witness interviews was he able to review them in person.
"The testimony of these four White House employees directly contradicts claims made by Cassidy Hutchinson and by the Select Committee in the Final report," said the Oversight report. "None of the White House employees corroborated Hutchinson's sensational story."
In addition to indicating Hutchinson presented an "entirely different version of events" than what actually took place, White House employees reportedly further contradicted the Jan. 6 committee's claim that Trump intended to go the Capitol on Jan. 6.
"More than one of the White House employees testified to the exact opposite: that there was never any plan for the President to go to the Capitol on January 6," said the report. "The testimony of the White House employee refutes this claim and leaves no doubt that the Select Committee's claim is false."
A White House employee also refuted Hutchinson's claim that Trump said anything about the alleged chant "Hang Mike Pence," indicating the former president said nothing at all about the chants.
After providing the Jan. 6 committee and the liberal media with tall tales that cast shade on Trump, Hutchinson got a book deal with Simon and Schuster, guest spots on liberal talk shows, and glowing write-ups in publications such as the New York Times.
Chairman Loudermilk said in a statement, "For nearly two years former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's January 6th Select Committee promoted hearsay and cherry-picked information to promote its political goal — to legislatively prosecute former President Donald Trump."
"It was no surprise that the Select Committee's final report focused primarily on former President Donald Trump and his supporters, not the security failures and reforms needed to ensure the United States Capitol is safer today than in 2021," continued Loudermilk.
The Georgia Republican stressed that the "American people deserve the entire truth about what caused the violent breach at the United States Capitol of January 6, 2021. It is unfortunate the Select Committee succumbed to their political inclinations and chased false narratives instead of providing the important work of a genuine investigation."
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