This post has been updated since it was originally published to include recent facts
A shocking allegation has been made by the House Select Jan 6 committee this week, as they claim they have evidence that an attorney backed by Donald Trump advised a key witness to mislead the court regarding details they could recall about their time in the White House.
The January 6 committee claims it has evidence that a Trump-backed attorney urged Cassidy Hutchinson, a key witness in the Jan. 6 hearings, to mislead the committee about details she recalled.
Watch @PaulaReidCNN‘s report here: https://t.co/Ckkwd9GzP5
— CNN (@CNN) December 21, 2022
How Trump’s Lawyer Tried To Mislead The House Select Committee
An executive summary released by the committee details how the former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson was advised by an attorney from the Trump administration to say that she did not recall details that she actually did, telling her that she “could, in certain circumstances, tell the Committee that she did not recall facts when she actually did recall them.”
Supposedly when Hutchinson raised concerns about this, she was told, “You saying ‘I don’t recall’ is an entirely acceptable response to this,” according to the committee. The report goes on to claim that this attorney also instructed Hutchinson “about a particular issue that would cast a bad light on President Trump: ‘No, no, no, no, no. We don’t want to go there. We don’t want to talk about that.'”
A member of the House committee, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, later elaborated on the claim, saying that Hutchinson "was advised to say that she didn't recall something when she did. So that's pretty serious stuff." This doesn't look good for the former president!
The lawyer in question has been revealed as Stefan Passantino, the top ethics attorney in the Trump White House. Do we need to say anything about an ethics attorney advising someone to mislead a House committee? Fortunately for Hutchinson, she dropped Passantino and appointed a new lawyer before giving her public testimony.
Joined @kaitlancollins on @CNNThisMorning to report @CNN Justice team's exclusive details on Trump's former WH ethics lawyer telling Cassidy Hutchinson to give misleading testimony to 1/6 committee...part of what Committee alleges is a pattern of obstruction by Trump associates pic.twitter.com/Oe12UUbXIx
— Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCNN) December 21, 2022
Cassidy Hutchinson's June 28th Testimony
To say that there were many takeaways from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson's vivid June 28 testimony about Trump's actions on January 6, 2021 would be an understatement. Hutchinson, 26, worked as an aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and testified for nearly 2 hours and gave recorded depositions ahead of the hearing with the White House select committee investigating what transpired on January 6.
According to CNN, several Republican lawmakers (who wanted to remain private) allegedly were "stunned" and "disturbed" by the latest revelations. Some key updates from Hutchinson that seemed to shock these insiders were that Trump knew the insurrection crowd was armed and wanted to join them at the Capitol on the day of the violent riots, CNN's Capitol Hill reporter Melanie Zanona reported.
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Hutchinson acknowledged to CNN that her testimony was "a bombshell" with potentially huge repercussions for Trump, the publication wrote, and Trump was already "bracing for an explosive day of testimony from Hutchinson, who previously told the House select committee that the former President approved of rioters chanting violent threats against Vice President Mike Pence on January 6, 2021," as reporters Gabby Orr and Pamela Brown wrote.
"This is a bombshell. It's stunning. It's shocking. The story about 'The Beast' — I don't have words. It's just stunning," one Trump adviser, reportedly said, referring to the presidential limousine. "This paints a picture of Trump completely unhinged and completely losing all control which, for his base, they think of him as someone who is in command at all times. This completely flies in the face of that," the adviser allegedly added.
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In the days following Hutchinson's testimony, Trump has tried to distance himself from Hutchinson, saying he "hardly knew" her when they were proved to have worked together many times. In response to this, former White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews tweeted, "Anyone downplaying Cassidy Hutchinson's role or her access in the West Wing either doesn't understand how the Trump [White House] worked or is attempting to discredit her because they're scared of how damning this testimony is."
Speaking to CNN, another former White House aide (who wanted to remain anonymous) allegedly said, "Everyone high up at the (White House) knew her. And even if Trump didn't know her name, he most certainly recognized her. She traveled on (Air Force One) with Mark for every trip." Additionally, this former aide told the publication that Hutchinson's testimony was "100% believable" given what this aide experienced while working in the Trump White House themself.
