Photo: Alamy
Prior to her testimony in front of the highly partisan Jan. 6 Committee, most people in the U.S. had never heard of Cassidy Hutchinson.
Hutchinson, a former White House aide, was a former special assistant to President Donald Trump and an adviser to chief of staff Mark Meadows, according to the New York Post.
Hutchinson’s testimony before the Jan. 6 Committee this week offered up a wild story about the 45th president that was almost immediately discredited by reports that Bobby Engel, the lead Secret Service agent on President Trump’s detail on Jan. 6, 2021, was prepared to testify under oath to contradict Hutchinson’s outlandish story.
Hutchinson claimed in her testimony that President Trump attempted to take control of one of the presidential SUVs on Jan. 6, 2021, by lunging for the steering wheel because he wanted to drive to the Capitol Building, according to a report from Breitbart.
Trump remarked on Tuesday in comments posted to Truth Social that, “The Secret Service said, according to the Media, it wasn’t true. Wow! She has now lost all credibility, just like the partisan Witch Hunt perpetuated by the Unselect Committee of political hacks. MAGA!”
Author, comedian and Washington Times columnist Tim Young tweeted, “The Secret Service ultimately has to follow all of the President’s orders…So aside from the fact that it was physically/logistically impossible for Trump to try to wrestle the limo steering wheel away…he would’ve never need to. The January 6 committee clowned itself.”
Conservative pundit and Senior Editor of Human Events Jack Posobiec additionally tweeted, “BREAKING: Multiple sources including one who was at the WH on Jan 6 tell me Cipollone was not there in the am when Hutchinson testified and she spoke with him. J6 Cmtes is aware of this discrepancy & are ignoring media inquiries about it. Seems she made up the entire conversation [.]”
Pat Cipollone was the former White House counsel in the Trump administration. Hutchinson’s testimony alleged that Cipollone was at the White House and warned Trump not to go to the U.S. Capitol with Jan. 6 protesters, Fox News reported.
Interestingly, Hutchinson’s story was not even first-hand witness testimony. According to Breitbart, Hutchinson claimed under oath that the story about Trump attempting to commandeer a presidential vehicle came from then-White House deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato.
President Trump himself slammed Hutchinson’s testimony on Wednesday in a follow-up statement posted to his Truth Social account:
“Now that fake storyteller Cassidy Hutchinson has been totally discredited and marginalized for making up the most ridiculous story that I tried to commandeer control of a moving White House Limo, even went for a choke hold on the other very strong Secret Service Agent sitting in the front seat, in addition to her other lies, the Unselect Committee is asking to interview the former White House counsel for dirt, even though that would set a terrible precedent for future Presidents. NO!”
