On Monday, Republicans asserted in a report published by a House committee examining the special Jan. 6 panel that the vivid depiction by key witness Cassidy Hutchinson of former President Donald Trump’s conduct during the events was not supported by the testimonies of four other staffers from the White House.
“None of the White House Employees corroborated Hutchinson’s sensational story about President Trump lunging for the steering wheel of the Beast. However, some witnesses did describe the President’s mood after the speech at the Ellipse,” wrote the 81-page report from the House Administration Committee’s oversight subcommittee, led by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, (R-GA).
A portion of the report was acquired by NBC News prior to its release. Hutchinson’s testimony, which detailed sensational claims about President Trump’s conduct on January 6, has been directly contradicted by the sworn statements of White House employees and a United States Secret Service (USSS) agent.
Hutchinson took part in her fourth recorded interview with the Select Committee, where she brought forward new allegations. In the session, she claimed that following his speech at the Ellipse, President Trump tried to seize control of the steering wheel from the United States Secret Service (USSS) driver and made a move toward another USSS agent inside the vehicle.
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However, her claim about President Trump attempting to seize the steering wheel of his vehicle was refuted by the USSS driver, who stated, “I did not see him reach. [President Trump] never grabbed the steering wheel. I didn’t see him, you know, lunge to try to get into the front seat at all.” The contradiction was further compounded by the Select Committee’s failure to corroborate Hutchinson’s sensational story with other witnesses before presenting it to the public as factual.
“Despite the driver of the President’s SUV testifying under oath that the Hutchinson story was false, the Select Committee chose to validate and promote Hutchinson’s version of the story as fact. The Select Committee hid the driver’s full testimony and only favorably mentioned his testimony in its Final Report, it did not release the full transcript,” the report read.
Hutchinson testified to the Jan. 6 panel, both in private and public sessions, stating she heard that Trump attempted to take control of the presidential SUV’s steering wheel and engaged in a physical altercation with his lead Secret Service agent after being informed he couldn’t join his supporters at the Capitol following his Ellipse rally speech on Jan. 6.
Furthermore, the House committee’s report revealed the process by which Hutchinson’s testimony was handled and presented by the January 6 committee, revealing a concerning lack of due diligence and transparency. The report documented that Hutchinson’s most dramatic claims, including the incident in the presidential vehicle, were not part of her initial testimonies but emerged later in a manner that the investigating House committee suggests was orchestrated to fit a predetermined narrative.
The new transcript and the ensuing report question the integrity of the January 6 committee’s investigation, suggesting that evidence was selectively released and testimony was possibly manipulated to support a specific narrative.
Hutchinson, who worked closely with Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, offered firsthand accounts of the inner workings of the White House in the days surrounding the breach. Her testimony was considered pivotal in understanding the extent of the involvement of high-level officials in the Trump administration regarding the events of January 6.
Referring to the transcripts, Republicans pointed out the oddity that the Secret Service agent who drove Trump’s SUV was not interrogated by the January 6 committee regarding Hutchinson’s testimony until the agent’s lawyer brought up the matter.