Politics

House GOP report debunks ex-Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony on ex-prez trying to wrangle SUV to Jan. 6 panel 

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Social Links for Victor Nava
Published March 11, 2024, 6:25 p.m. ET

A Republican-led House committee on Monday released a report debunking claims by ex-Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson that the former president attempted to commandeer a Secret Service SUV on Jan. 6, 2021. 

The 81-page House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight report charges that lawmakers on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol “were laser-focused on their effort to promote their pre-determined narrative.”

The report also claims that the Jan. 6 committee cherry-picked evidence, including failing to release full transcripts from key witnesses that disprove “sensational” claims made by Hutchinson. 

Cassidy Hutchinson
Cassidy Hutchinson said she heard from another former White House official that Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of the SUV he was being driven in by the Secret Service in an attempt to get to the Capitol.

The oversight subcommittee, headed by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), found that unreleased testimony by four White House employees present for Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech at the Ellipse “directly contradicts claims made by Cassidy Hutchinson” and the House panel investigating the riot.  

“None of the White House employees corroborated Hutchinson’s sensational story about President Trump lunging for the steering wheel of the Beast,” the report states, referring to the president’s heavily-armored limousine.

Hutchinson, who at the time was an aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified to the select committee that she was told Trump had shouted: “I’m the f—ing president! Take me up to the Capitol now!” before he tried to grab the steering wheel from the driver in a desperate effort to join his supporters marching towards the Capitol.

Loudermilk’s report notes that Hutchinson’s testimony was “directly refuted” by White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Anthony Ornato – the man who according to Hutchinson, told her the anecdote – and the Secret Service agent driving the SUV. 

“Ornato testified that the first time he had ever heard the story Hutchinson claims Ornato told her on January 6, was during Hutchinson’s public testimony,” the oversight subcommittee report states.

“Hutchinson’s testimony was also contradicted by the [Secret Service] agent who was with President Trump on January 6,” the subcommittee found, which notes that “Hutchinson’s accusation came up only after the Secret Service agent’s attorney proactively brought up the subject” to select committee investigators. 

Cassidy Hutchinson
Hutchinson’s testimony was debunked by several witnesses, including the driver of the Secret Service SUV. AP

“The driver testified that he specifically refuted the version of events as recounted by Hutchinson,” according to the report. “The driver of the SUV testified that he ‘did not see him reach [redacted]. [President Trump] never grabbed the steering wheel. I didn’t see him, you know, lunge to try to get into the front seat at all.’”

The select committee “hid the driver’s full testimony and only favorably mentioned his testimony in its Final Report, it did not release the full transcript,” Loudermilk’s committee determined. 

In a statement, Loudermilk argued that Americans deserve to know “the entire truth” about the events leading up to the riot at the Capitol. 

“It is unfortunate the Select Committee succumbed to their political inclinations and chased false narratives instead of providing the important work of a genuine investigation,” the Georgia Republican said. “In my committee’s investigation, it is my objective to uncover the facts about January 6, without political bias or spin. My report today is just the beginning.”