The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol reportedly will hear from a former aide to Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff, at Tuesday’s surprise hearing.
Cassidy Hutchinson, who also served as a special assistant to Trump, has already testified behind closed doors several times, revealing that House Republicans supporting Trump’s quest to overturn the 2020 election were in search of presidential pardons. Hutchinson has also testified that Trump himself signaled to Meadows he supported calls from Capitol rioters to “hang Mike Pence” through the rebel, in line with CNN.
The news of Hutchinson’s appearance, first reported by Punchbowl News, comes because the committee announced a surprise hearing on Tuesday to “present recently obtained evidence” and “receive witness testimony.” The panel had previously said it might not hold any additional hearings before the House July 4 recess.
It’s unclear whether Hutchinson will joined by other live witnesses on Tuesday. Punchbowl News reported there have been concerns over Hutchinson’s safety. Latest security precautions can be in place during Tuesday’s hearing, in line with CNN.
The Select Committee will convene a hearing tomorrow, June 28 at 1:00pm to present recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony.https://t.co/6knNdD9UWb
— January sixth Committee (@January6thCmte) June 27, 2022
Within the lead-up to the committee’s first public hearings in early June, Hutchinson had been touted as a crucial witness.
“Cassidy Hutchinson might change into the following John Dean,” Norm Eisen, senior fellow on the Brookings Institution and a counsel to House Democrats during Trump’s first impeachment trial, told The Washington Post.
Dean, President Richard Nixon’s White House counsel, became a star witness within the House Watergate hearings after testifying publicly of Nixon’s involvement within the scandal.
The committee has already aired video of Hutchinson’s previous testimony, when she was asked if any members of Congress had sought presidential pardons. Hutchinson said Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.) all asked for them.
“Mr. Gaetz was personally pushing for a pardon, and he was doing so since early December,” Hutchinson said. “I’m unsure why.”
The previous aide also recounted that Meadows, Trump and Rudy Giuliani were amongst those involved in discussions a couple of scheme promoting fake presidential electors around Thanksgiving in 2020, in line with video aired through the June 21 hearing. Meadows and Giuliani are amongst Trump loyalists who’ve defied Jan. 6 committee subpoenas.
During Thursday’s hearing, which focused on Trump’s pressure on the Department of Justice to help his election lies, the panel also aired testimony from Hutchinson revealing that Rep. Perry pushed for Trump to put in Jeff Clark as attorney general.
“He wanted Mr. Clark, Mr. Jeff Clark, to take over the Department of Justice,” Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson said she saw Meadows burn papers after a gathering with Perry within the weeks following the 2020 election, in line with Politico. She also told investigators Meadows had been warned the “Stop the Steal” rally slated for Jan. 6 in Washington could turn violent, in line with a court filing in April.
Following the 2020 election, Hutchinson called Jordan Fuchs, Georgia’s deputy secretary of state, to ask if there’s anything the White House could do to precise gratitude for the audit into absentee ballot signatures, in line with a Reuters report from March 2021.
A Fulton County investigation in Georgia looking into whether Trump broke the law by pressuring state officials to overturn the 2020 election results.
Earlier this month, Politico reported Hutchinson replaced her Trump-ally lawyer with Jody Hunt, who served as chief of staff to Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions. The move reportedly suggested her increased willingness to cooperate with the investigation.
Punchbowl News reported Hutchinson spoke to the Jan. 6 committee inside the last 10 days.
In the times before the panel’s first public hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a member of the panel, was asked about Hutchinson’s role. While he didn’t reveal details of what Hutchinson had privately shared with the panel, he told Washington Post Live that several young individuals who knew what was occurring had come forward.
“She is actually someone who rendered truthful testimony to our committee and you will notice other junior staffers who’ve come forward and cooperated enthusiastically with this investigation into this attack on our country,” Raskin said.
Meanwhile, federal agents last week seized the cellphone of John Eastman, a lawyer advising Trump on schemes to overturn the election result, in line with a court filing, suggesting a criminal probe is gaining steam alongside the House panel’s investigation.
