The summons seeking Cipollone’s testimony followed dramatic public testimony Tuesday by a former White House aide who told the panel that Cipollone had warned her they could face “any crime imaginable” if Trump go to the Capitol on January 6 after delivery. a fiery rally speech to his supporters. “The selection committee investigation has revealed evidence that Mr Chipolone has repeatedly expressed legal and other concerns about President Trump’s activities on January 6 and in recent days,” the commission said in a statement. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “Any concerns Mr Cipollone has about the institutional privileges of his previous position are clearly outweighed by the need for him to testify,” the commission said. Cipollone could not be reached for immediate comment. Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Trump’s White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, told the committee Tuesday that Trump wanted to leave the Capitol rally and grab the steering wheel of the armored presidential SUV when he learned that the U.S. do not take him to the Capitol, where thousands of his supporters revolted. “We will be charged with every crime imaginable,” Hutchinson said, adding that Shipolone told her if Trump was going to the Capitol on Jan. 6. “We have to make sure this does not happen, that would be a really terrible idea for us. We have serious legal concerns if we go up to the Capitol that day,” Cipollone was quoted as saying by Hutchinson. However, the investigation questioned Wednesday about the steps it had taken to confirm Hutchinson’s account that Trump had quarreled with Secret Service agents. Hutchinson testified that Tony Ornato, a senior Secret Service official, told her that Trump, a Republican, had quarreled with agents after he gave a fiery speech to his supporters outside the White House that morning, accusing her of widespread fraud for his electoral defeat. to Democrat Joe Biden. read more U.S. media, citing Secret Service sources, said Trump’s chief of security, Robert Engel, and the driver of the car were ready to challenge Hutchinson’s testimony that Trump had tried to take the helm. Neither Engel nor the driver made public statements on Wednesday. Trump denied on Tuesday that he had snatched the wheel. An aide to the U.S. House of Representatives committee on Jan. 6 declined to answer questions about whether the committee had already interviewed Secret Service agents or other officials with first-hand knowledge of the Hutchinson incident. “Ms. Hutchinson supports all the testimony she gave yesterday to the Selection Committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol,” lawyers Jodi Hunt and William Jordan said in a statement late Wednesday. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Wednesday that the commission did not try to confirm the details of Hutchinson’s testimony 10 days before the hearing, which was scheduled to be unusually fast. The Secret Service said in a statement on Tuesday that it was working with the commission. Guglielmi did not immediately answer questions about the significance of the 10 days or whether the commission had previously contacted the agency to discuss Trump’s behavior on Jan. 6. The uprising was an attempt to stop Congress, with Vice President Mike Pence presiding, to certify Biden’s election. “If it is true that the Secret Service denies allegations against President Trump of assault and assault on officials, then the story really goes through with gossip that did not bear fruit,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday. “The committee, with a little effort, could have told the other side of the story, but they chose NOT to do so because they wanted shocking titles.” The Jan. 6 nine-member committee consists of seven Democrats and two Republicans. Trump supporters have not disputed other revelations in Hutchinson’s testimony. These included Trump’s knowledge – even approval – that his supporters were walking heavily armed in Washington on Jan. 6 and that he had no hesitation in urging rioters to hang Pence. Hutchinson also testified that Trump was known for outbursts of anger in the White House that left food strewn on walls and dishes tossed. Also Wednesday, a Virginia Ginny Thomas’s lawyer, the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, asked the commission to provide a better “justification” for seeking her testimony. Earlier this month, Thomas told the Daily Caller she was willing to “clear up misconceptions” about her activism in conservative political circles and her participation in the January 6 Trump rally. read more As a former Meadows deputy, Hutchinson, now 26, has been a regular presence in White House staff in the last months of 2020, flying frequently to Air Force One, a staff-friendly and Trump intelligence detail. Her office was a 10-second walk from the President’s Oval Office. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Richard Cowan. Additional references by Rami Ayyub, Eric Beech, Steve Holland, Doina Chiacu and Rose Horowitch. Editing by Scott Malone, Mary Milliken, Howard Goller and Leslie Adler Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
