A newly disclosed document reveals that a key witness for the U.S. House of Representatives panel investigating the January 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol changed 47 of her answers after testifying to the panel on four separate occasions.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the Capitol breach, made the changes after she made new claims for the first time in the fourth interview with the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
For example, in a previous interview, Ms. Hutchinson indicated uncertainty about whether then-President Trump was informed of people at the Ellipse, where he delivered a speech, carrying weapons. However, a correction now reveals that Ms. Hutchinson was aware President Trump had been informed about weapons present in the crowd.
Ms. Hutchinson asserted that an aide had informed the president about weapons in the crowd but did not mention overhearing or witnessing the conversation herself.
Another update involved a question about whether there were talks about mentioning Antifa, the leftist network, when discussing January 6th.
“I was not privy to any conversations to include a word or the acronym ‘antifa’ in any of the president’s correspondence to the public after the events and—after or during the events that transpired on Jan. 6,” Ms. Hutchinson said originally.
She said that there was”an emphasis on blaming Antifa” in the erratum.
A third update dealt with a card from the White House that said, “Anyone who entered the Capitol without proper authority should leave immediately.”
Initially, Ms. Hutchinson claimed she was the one who wrote the phrase on the card, but she couldn’t recall who had passed the information to her.
“There was somebody who had called me on my work cell phone, and this was a draft tweet that this person felt would be useful if it went out from the President’s Twitter or from another significant media surrogate,” she said. “And I remember writing this down and passing it in to Mark and giving him the context in real time. I don’t recall who relayed this message to me, though.”
In the erratum, Ms. Hutchinson stated that Mr. Meadows dictated the phrase to her.
The erratum changed 47 earlier answers across the four interviews and ran 15 pages.
The Jan. 6 panel, which was dissolved at the end of the prior Congress, did not disclose the document. However, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), who chairs the House Administration’s Subcommittee on Investigations, made it public on April 15.
Previously, Mr. Loudermilk included certain images from the correction but did not release the entire document in an interim report outlining his investigation into January 6th. These images revealed discrepancies in Ms. Hutchinson’s testimony. While she initially claimed that President Trump grabbed the wheel of the vehicle he was in on January 6th, referring to it as “The Beast,” a presidential limousine, she later admitted in the correction that this was inaccurate. In fact, President Trump was riding in an SUV.
Multiple witnesses disputed Ms. Hutchinson’s claim, including Anthony Ornato, a Secret Service agent to whom she attributed the allegation.
Ms. Hutchinson’s lawyer has not responded to requests for comment on the erratum.
During her fourth interview, Ms. Hutchinson attributed her new claims to switching legal representation. She claimed that her former lawyer advised her that saying, “you’re not lying if you don’t recall” was acceptable.
Ms. Hutchinson also stated in her book that she was ready to reveal the previously undisclosed information during her third interview but ultimately chose not to do so.
Ms. Hutchinson eventually testified to the panel again, this time in a public hearing. Her statements received extensive coverage and were widely reported by the news media.
“The select committee, despite knowing that Hutchinson’s testimony changed substantially over time to be more dramatic, rushed into yet another Hollywood hearing even though they were not able to verify the story,” Mr. Loudermilk’s subcommittee said in its interim report. “The select committee latched onto a sensational and uncorroborated story in its attempt to publicly prosecute Donald Trump.”
Mr. Loudermilk previously circulated a transcript featuring the driver of the vehicle carrying President Trump. According to the driver’s testimony to the panel, President Trump did not attempt to grab the wheel.
President Trump “never grabbed the steering wheel,” the agent said, according to the transcript. “I didn’t see him lunge to try to get into the front seat at all.”
The transcript with the driver has not been publicly released.
Representative Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chair of the Jan. 6 panel, justified the decision to keep certain transcripts secret. He explained that some transcripts had to be sent to the executive branch for review, though references to them were incorporated into the panel’s final report.
According to Thompson, all the evidence collected by the panel “points to the same conclusion: Donald Trump wanted to join his violent mob as it marched on the Capitol.”
Share your thoughts by scrolling down to leave a comment.
