The House committee on Saturday, January 6, issued a statement that described the introduction of a former White House lawyer as “reinforcing” alleged misconduct by former President Donald Trump.
The idea that the former director of the Trump White House, Pat Cipollone freely with legal advisers.
Responding to multiple reports that Cipollone had invoked that privilege during his daylong testimony under subpoena, a committee spokesman suggested a different story.
“In our interview with Mr. Cipollone, the committee received critical testimony on nearly every major topic of its investigation, reinforcing key points about Donald Trump’s misconduct and providing highly relevant new information that will play a central role in in their next hearings”, the statement. House Select Committee spokesman Tim Mulvey read.
He continued: “It includes information that demonstrates Donald Trump’s supreme dereliction of duty.”
Trump and his representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Saturday.
In an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” which aired Sunday, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., a member of the committee, said Cipollone “claimed privilege over conversations related to the councils which was provided directly by the President or conversations with the President.”
The committee “still got a lot of relevant information from him, and it gives us another perspective on what was going on in the White House in those weeks leading up to January 6th that were so important,” he said.
Cipollone spoke to the committee about his “concerns” and “reservations” about Trump’s actions, including his unease about the then-president’s rally speech on Jan. 6, 2021, Murphy added.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., one of two Republicans on the committee, told “This Week” on Sunday that the public would learn more about what Cipollone told the committee during the eight-hour deposition, at the two televised hearings scheduled for the end of this week.
Mulvey said Cipollone was never guided by the panel to avoid potentially insider information. His statement suggests that in Cipollone, the committee got another voice to back up some of the live testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows.
She testified that on Jan. 6, Trump became enraged and ordered his Secret Service detail to take him to the Capitol so he could join supporters who had just entered the complex and attacked police as he tried to reach lawmakers. and Vice President Mike Pence, All involved in certifying Trump’s loss.
He said Secret Service agents in a presidential SUV with Trump refused to pull him over, and that the president got behind the wheel from behind the front seats and then tried to grab an agent by the throat, he claims which Trump has denied.
He also testified that Trump showed no sympathy for Pence, as rioters could be life-threatening near the vice president, and that Trump allegedly had the time and power to call them out. The former president has also denied it.
On Saturday, Mulvey said in the committee statement that Cipollone “corroborated key elements of Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony.”
The January 6 committee will resume with fact-finding during a hearing on Tuesday.
Julia Jester contributed.
