More witnesses are coming forward with new details about the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot following former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s damning testimony last week against former U.S. President Donald Trump, a member of a U.S. House committee investigating the rebellion. The committee has already subpoenaed former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who investigators hope will appear Wednesday to testify, and said it would also welcome follow-up details from members of the Secret Service with Trump that day. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., cited Hutchinson’s testimony that Trump wanted to join an angry crowd that marched on the Capitol on Jan. 6, where he rioted, as particularly valuable in “inspiring” more people to come forward as the committee is preparing for at least two public hearings this month. “Every day we have new people coming forward and saying, ‘Hey, I didn’t think maybe this piece of history that I knew was important,’” he said Sunday. “There’s going to be a lot more information, and stay tuned. “ The committee is intensifying its years-long investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack and Trump’s efforts to sway the 2020 election. The next hearings will aim to show how Trump illegally directed a violent mob toward the Capitol on Jan. 6 and then failed to take swift action to stop the attack once it had begun. Over the weekend, the committee’s vice chairwoman, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., made it clear that criminal indictments of the Justice Department, including Trump, could follow. The committee is also considering new documentary footage of Trump’s final months in office, including interviews with Trump and members of his family. Kinzinger, in a televised interview, declined to reveal the new information he was referring to and did not say who provided it. He said nothing changed the committee’s confidence in her credibility. “There’s information I can’t say yet,” he said. “We would certainly say that Cassidy Hutchinson has testified under oath, we find her credible, and anyone who wants to discount that, which was first hand, should also testify under oath and not through anonymous sources.” In a separate interview, another committee member, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said: “We are following additional leads. I think this evidence will lead to new testimony.” In Hutchinson’s appearance before the committee, she painted a picture of Trump as an angry, defiant president trying to let armed supporters avoid security screenings at a rally on the morning of Jan. 6 to protest his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. According to Hutchinson, Cipollone was concerned that Trump would face criminal charges if he joined his supporters in the march to Capitol Hill. Legal experts said Cassidy’s testimony is potentially problematic for Trump as federal prosecutors investigate possible criminal wrongdoing. Cheney said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the committee is still considering whether to issue recommendations to the Justice Department, indicating that “there may be more than one criminal referral.” Committee members said they hope Cipollone will come forward. “He clearly has information about concerns about criminal trespassing, concerns about the president going to the Capitol that day, concerns about the chief of staff having blood on his hands if they didn’t do more to stop this violent attack on the Capitol ». said Schiff. “It’s hard to imagine anyone more at the center of things.” In her deposition, Cassidy recounted a conversation with Tony Ornato, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for operations, who, she testified, said Trump later grabbed the steering wheel of the president’s SUV when the Secret Service refused to let him into the Capitol after the rally. However, this account has been disputed. Bobby Engel, the Secret Service agent who drove Trump, and Ornato are willing to testify under oath that no agent was assaulted and that Trump never fell behind the wheel, a person familiar with the matter said. The person would not discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. “We had interviewed Mr. Ornato several times,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a committee member. “His memory doesn’t seem to be as accurate as hers. We will certainly welcome them back if they wish.” The committee is also working to set up an interview with Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She was asked to speak to the committee after revelations of her communications with Trump’s team leading up to and on the day of the Capitol riot. Kinzinger appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Schiff appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Cheney appeared on ABC’s “This Week” and Lofgren spoke on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
