Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone testified before the House Select Committee recently and corroborated virtually everything that Cassidy Hutchinson said in her testimony, including Donald Trump's call to march to the Capitol.
The latest Jan. 6 hearings fleshed out the links between the former United States president and the far-right extremist groups that were at the vanguard of the violent effort to stop the transition of power and keep him in office despite his election loss.
Pat Cipollone's Testimony
The hearing, which happened on Tuesday, focused on the loose affiliations between Trump, his informal political advisers, and members of far-right militia groups like the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.
The panel walked through snippets of witness depositions, court documents, previously unseen emails, and other materials to make the case that the Republican businessman coyly courted these militants and used them as his troops on the ground in order to pressure Congress to overturn the 2020 election results.
A Maryland Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin, said that all of the efforts would "converge and explode on Jan. 6." The committee member also led parts of Tuesday's hearing and made the opening statements, as per CNN.
During an interview, Raskin said that Cipollone corroborated nearly everything the panel learned from previous hearings. He added that he did not hear the former White House counsel contradict Hutchinson, noting that he had the opportunity to say what he wanted to say.
It remains unclear whether or not investigators directly asked Cipollone about the specifics of some of the more explosive aspects of Hutchinson's testimony that was held in a prior hearing. This includes that they would be charged with "every crime imaginable" if Trump went to the Capitol on Jan. 6.
According to NBC News, video footage of Cipollone's taped testimony will later be presented at Tuesday's hearing, led by Raskin alongside Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Florida. The former said that the hearing would include new details about what committee members have been told was "the craziest meeting in the Trump presidency" that happened on Dec. 18, 2020.
Donald Trump's Involvement
He noted that it was described as "hot-blooded, contentious, deranged" when the former president met with outside and internal legal advisers for a "Hail Mary desperation ploy." It was an attempt to subvert an election they had already lost, including the possibility of seizing state election machines and appointing Trump ally Sidney Powell as a special counsel.
A spokesman for the panel, Tim Mulvey, said that the committee "received critical testimony on nearly every major topic in its investigation. They were allegedly able to reinforce key points regarding Trump's misconduct and provide highly relevant new information that will play a central role in upcoming hearings.
Mulvey said, "This includes information demonstrating Donald Trump's supreme dereliction of duty. The testimony also corroborated key elements of Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony." Cipollone is known to have broken with Trump in response to questions about the former president's pressure campaign against former Vice President Mike Pence, the New York Times reported.