“Ms. Hutchinson supports all the testimony she gave yesterday, under oath, to the selected committee to investigate the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6,” Hutchinson’s lawyer Jody Hunt and William Jordan said in a statement.
Hutchinson testified for nearly two hours on Tuesday, as well as give recorded testimony before the hearing, where she vividly described her experience at the White House near Meadows and then-President Donald Trump in the days before and including the Capitol Hill riot. Hutchinson described how Trump and Meadows were repeatedly warned in advance and on the day of the attack of the possibility of violence, including by gunmen at the rally.
While Secret Service officials as well as those close to Trump do not dispute the overall characterization of Hutchinson’s testimony, some of them refute specific allegations and descriptions.
Contrary to Hutchinson’s testimony, the limited denials were not made under oath.
Hutchinson testified that she was told that when Trump was informed by security that he would not go to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, he threw himself at the front of his car and tried to turn the steering wheel with one hand. while using his other hand. to “throw” himself at Robert Engel, the Secret Service agent in charge that day. Hutchinson testified that she was told this story by Tony Ornato, then deputy chief of staff of the White House, and that Engel was there while the story was being told.
After the hearing, a Secret Service official familiar with the matter told CNN that Ornato denied denying Hutchinson that the former president had caught the wheel or an agent of his detail.
Ornato is known to have a strong relationship with Trump and his team, as he was granted an unusual release to suspend his time in the U.S. Secret Service to serve as deputy chief of staff to Trump’s White House.
Earlier, Engel testified before the commission and described his interactions with Trump on January 6, including the former president’s desire to travel to the Capitol, but Engel was not asked about a quarrel or attack, the official said.
The Secret Service, through the Home Office’s Legislative Office, notified the commission Tuesday afternoon that it would allow the agents involved to testify under oath, the official said, and that agents were willing to swear that the incident described by Hutchinson did not. it happened.
This story was updated with further developments on Wednesday.
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