Jan. 6 committee holds sixth hearing

Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson described former President Trump’s angry reaction after former Attorney General Bill Barr said in an interview with the Associated Press that the Department of Justice had not found evidence of widespread voter fraud after the 2020 election.

Hutchinson testified that after learning about the interview Trump went down to the White House dining room and threw a plate against the wall, shattering it.

“Around the time that I understand the AP article went live, I remember hearing noise coming from down the hallway, so I poked my head out of the office, and I saw the valet walking towards our office. He had said, get [chief of staff Mark Meadows] down to the dining room. The President wants him. So, Mark went down to the dining room, came back to the office a few minutes later.” 

She continued: “After Mark had returned, I left the office and went down to the dining room and I noticed that the door was propped open and the valet was inside the dining room changing the table cloth off of the dining room table. He motioned for me to come in and then pointed towards the front of the room near the fireplace mantle and the TV where I first noticed there was ketchup dripping down the wall and there’s a shattered porcelain plate on the floor.” 

Hutchinson said she grabbed a towel and started wiping the ketchup off the wall to help the valet out.

Cassidy Hutchinson demonstrates President Donald Trump's actions inside the presidential limousine on January 6 as she testifies on Tuesday.

Cassidy Hutchinson testified during the hearing that she was told that former President Donald Trump became “irate” when informed by security that he would not be going to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, because the situation was not secure.

And she testified that she heard a secondhand account of how Trump was so enraged at his Secret Service detail for blocking him from going to the Capitol that he lunged to the front of his presidential SUV and tried to turn the wheel. 

Tony Ornato, then-White House deputy chief of staff, told Hutchinson that Robert Engel, who was the Secret Service agent in charge on Jan. 6, 2021, repeatedly told Trump on their way back to the White House after Trump’s Ellipse speech that it wasn’t safe to go to the Capitol.  

According to Hutchinson, Ornato recounted Trump screaming, “I’m the F’ing President. Take me up to the Capitol now.” 

Trump then “reached up toward the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel,” Hutchinson remembered learning. She added that, according to Ornato, Trump used his other hand to “lunge” at Engel. 

Here’s how Hutchinson described the President’s anger at being prevented from going to the Capitol:

Engel and Ornato have both testified to the committee behind closed doors, but their statements have not been used in today’s hearing.

Asked by CNN for comment about today’s testimony regarding Trump allegedly lunging at his security detail and other claims about security on Jan. 6, a Secret Service spokesperson said the US Secret Service has “been cooperating with the Select Committee since its inception in spring 2021, and will continue to do so, including by responding on the record to the committee regarding the new allegations surfaced in today’s testimony.”

CNN’s Josh Campbell contributed reporting to this post.

Watch the moment from Hutchinson’s testimony here.

Video footage shown by the House Select Committee shows President Donald Trump's motorcade leaving the rally on January 6, 2021.

Former President Trump wanted to go to the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, following his speech at the White House Ellipse, much to the dismay of national security officials who were following the situation in real time and learned that the Secret Service was scrambling to find a way for him to go minutes before the violence began to escalate, according to National Security Council chat logs from that day that were revealed for the first time during Tuesday’s hearing. 

The NSC chat logs provide a minute-by-minute account of how the situation evolved from the perspective of top White House national security officials on Jan. 6, 2021. They also appear to contradict an account by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in his book in which he says Trump never intended to march to the Capitol.

The chat logs also show how situation at the Capitol clearly began to escalate just before 1 p.m. ET as lawmakers gathered in the House chamber to count Electoral College votes and while Trump was on stage at the White House Ellipse – moments before he called for his supporters to march. 

“Capitol Police are now reporting multiple breaches in their anti-scaling fence,” a 12:57 p.m. ET message says.

“Capitol is now calling for all available to respond,” another message sent at 1 pm reads. “They have taken over the stage over there.”

Six minutes later, this message was sent to the NSC chat, but Trump’s plans remained unclear: “about to use non-lethal force at the Capitol.”

It was not until 1:17 p.m. ET that NSC officials knew Trump was in the motorcade and appeared to be headed back to the White House: “Looks like he is coming home for now.”

“Mogul in the Oval,” the final message, sent at 1:20 p.m. ET said. 

House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy is seen during a press conferenc June 23, 2022. REUTERS/Mary F. Calvert

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadow, told the Jan. 6 committee that she received a call from GOP House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy after former President Donald Trump told protesters at his rally to march to the US Capitol.

“I was still in the tent behind the stage, and when you’re behind the stage, you can’t really hear what’s going on in front of you. So when Mr. McCarthy called me with this information … he sounded rushed but also frustrated and angry at me,” she said Tuesday. “I was confused because I didn’t know what the President had just said.”

When McCarthy relayed what Trump had just said, he accused Hutchinson of having lied to him.

“He then explained the President just said he’s marching to the Capitol. ‘You told me this whole week you aren’t coming up here. Why would you lie to me?’ I said, ‘I wasn’t lying to you, sir. We’re not going to the Capitol.’ “

Hutchinson said she assured him there were no plans to go to the Capitol and he pressed a little more, frustrated, but believed her ended the call.

She told the committee that she confirmed with White House official Tony Ornato that they weren’t going to the Capitol and then let McCarthy know. “He didn’t respond after that.”

Cassidy Hutchinson

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, said former White House counsel Pat Cipollone told her that “we need to make sure that this doesn’t happen,” referring to going to the Capitol.  

On the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, Hutchinson also spoke to Cipollone, who said “something to the effect of ‘please make sure we don’t go up to the Capitol. Keep in touch with me. We’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen.’”

“In the days leading up to the 6th, we had conversations about potentially obstructing justice or defrauding the electoral count,” she said.

Cassidy Hutchinson

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Mark Meadows, said the former White House chief of staff “almost had a lack of reaction” when she told him about the violence at the US Capitol.

Hutchinson said she first tried to relay information to Meadows about Capitol Police having difficulty with protesters on Jan. 6, 2021, but he shut the door of his car on her.

Meadows “was in a secure vehicle at the time making a call,” she recounted for the committee. “When I went to open the door to let him know, he immediately shut it. I don’t know who he was speaking with. It wasn’t something that he regularly did, especially when I would go over to give him information. So I was a bit taken aback, but I didn’t think much of it.”

Hutchinson said she thought she could have a conversation with him a few moments later, and she added that she followed up 20 to 25 minutes later.

“There was another period between where he shut the door again, and then when he finally got out of the vehicle, we had the conversation. At that point, there was a backlog of information that he should have been made aware of,” she told the committee.

When she told him about the violence at the Capitol, she said there was a lack of reaction on his part.

Watch moment here:

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Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified before the Jan. 6 hearing that she overheard former President Donald Trump saying that he did not care if his supporters had weapons — and suggested he had no issue with them marching to the Capitol armed.

“I overheard the President say something to the effect of ‘I don’t F-ing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the F-ing mags away. Let my people in, they can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in, take the F-ing mags away.”

In December 2020, just days before the Capitol Hill riot, John Ratcliffe, then the Trump-picked director of National Intelligence, told Cassidy Hutchinson that the White House’s effort to “fight the results of the election” could “spiral out of control and potentially be dangerous.”

“The way that the White House was handling the post-election period, he felt that there could be dangerous repercussions in terms of precedent set for elections, for our Democracy, for the 6th,” Hutchinson said of Ratcliffe, a former Republican lawmaker with access to the nation’s most closely guarded secrets.

The comment was one of a number of “prescient” warnings about potential violence on Jan. 6, 2021 — in the words of Rep. Liz Cheney — that the House Select Committee invoked at a public hearing Tuesday. 

Hutchinson also testified that Mark Meadows, her boss, the then-chief of staff, told her on Jan. 2, 2021, that “things might get real, real bad on the 6th.” 

“That evening was the first moment that I remember feeling scared and nervous of what could happen on Jan. 6,” Hutchinson said.

A photo of former President Donald Trump from back stage at the January 6th rally is displayed as Cassidy Hutchinson testifies on Tuesday.

The President’s chief of staff Mark Meadows and Donald Trump himself were aware of the possibility of violence on Jan. 6, 2021, including that Trump supporters had weapons when they gathered on the Ellipse that day, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson has testified.  

Hutchinson also testified that a White House official, Tony Ornato, said he talked to Trump about weapons at his rally on Jan. 6, 2021. 

The House select committee investigation learned from law enforcement reports that people at the Trump rally on the Ellipse had pepper spray, knives, brass knuckles, Tasers and blunt objects that could be used as weapons, vice chair Liz Cheney said on Tuesday.

Hutchinson corroborated that this was known inside the White House the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, as well. She said she witnessed a discussion about the weapons between Ornato and Meadows, her boss. 

Ornato informed Meadows about the weaponry, and mentioned to Hutchinson “these f’ing people are fastening spears onto the ends of flagpoles,” she said in previous testimony that the committee presented as a video clip on Tuesday. 

But Hutchinson said that Meadows, on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, didn’t look up from his phone, seeming to barely register what was said. 

Meadows asked Ornato, “Have you talked to the President?” she recalled. Ornato said he had made Trump aware, she added. 

The Justice Department has proven in court some of those who breached the Capitol carried firearms and fought the police line with other weapons. 

The House committee also played radio traffic on Tuesday from police identifying firearms being carried in downtown Washington, DC, near the Ellipse. 

Jan. 6 House select committee vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney said the panel obtained information that people attending former President Trump’s rally ahead of the Capitol attack had weapons that were confiscated — but police transmissions show that those outside the rally had firearms including AR-15s.

“The select committee has learned about reports from outside the magnetometers and has obtained police radio transmissions identifying individuals with firearms, including AR-15s near the Ellipse on the morning of Jan. 6,” she said.

The committee then played radio transmissions with law enforcement identifying individuals who had pistols and AR-15s.

Cassidy Hutchinson testifies on Tuesday.

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, told the committee she heard the names of two far-right groups, the Proud Boys and Oath Keeper, mentioned leading up to Jan. 6, 2021. 

“I recall hearing the word ‘Oath Keeper’ and hearing the word ‘Proud Boys’ closer to the planning of the January 6 rally, when Mr. Giuliani would be around,” Hutchinson said in a video the committee played of one of her previous depositions.  

Vice Chairmwoman Liz Cheney noted that “Hutchinson has no detailed knowledge of any planning involving the Proud Boys for Jan. 6.”

Dozens of people connected to the Proud Boys have been arrested for their alleged participation in the Capitol riot, and leaders of both groups have been charged with seditious conspiracy for their alleged role that day, some of whom provided security that day for allies to President Donald Trump, including Roger Stone.  

During the hearing, Cheney said the White House had received information specifically about the Proud Boys and their plans for Jan. 6. 

“The White House continued to receive updates about planned demonstrations,” Cheney said, “including information regarding the Proud Boys’ organizing and planning to attend events on Jan. 6.”

According to Cheney, the Capitol Police issued a “Special Event Assessment” on Jan. 3, 2021, warning that the Proud Boys and other groups planned to be in Washington on Jan. 6 and “Congress itself is the target” that day.  

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows walks along the South Lawn in October 2020.

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told his aide Cassidy Hutchinson on Jan. 2, 2021, that “things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6,” she testified to the Jan. 6 House select committee on Tuesday.

She said he told her this after she spoke with former President Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, who told her “something to the effect of ‘we’re going to the Capitol.’”

Hutchinson said that Meadows “was scrolling through his phone; I remember leaning against the doorway and saying, ‘I just had an interesting conversation with Rudy, Mark. It sounds like we’re going to go to the Capitol.’ He didn’t look up from his phone and said something to the effect of ‘there’s a lot going on, Cass, but I don’t know, things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6.”

“That evening was the first moment that I remember feeling scared and nervous for what could happen on Jan. 6,” she said.

Rudy Giuliani speaks to the media on November 7, 2020, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified Tuesday that former President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani told her on Jan. 2, 2021 — four days before the US Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters – that “we’re going to the Capitol” on Jan. 6, 2021 and that Trump himself was also planning to be there.

More context: It was previously known that Trump wanted to go to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but Hutchinson’s testimony establishes for the first time that people around Trump had advance knowledge of this plan.

Hutchinson also said during her testimony that she told her boss, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, about Giuliani’s comments, shortly after he made them on Jan. 2, 2021. According to Hutchinson, Meadows “didn’t look up from his phone” during their conversation, but did tell her something to the effect of, “there’s a lot going on… but things might get real, real bad on January 6.” 

She testified that these conversations made her feel “scared” about what was going to happen.

Hutchinson’s testimony Tuesday undermines Meadows’ recent book. He wrote that Trump ad-libbed his lines during his speech that “we’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue… and we’re going to the Capitol,” and that this set off a scramble in the moment to figure out if Trump could feasibly make it to the Capitol.

Cassidy Hutchinson, left, and Rep. Liz Cheney

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said in an opening statement that Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony “touches on several important and cross-cutting topics, topics that are relevant to each of our future hearings.”

Cheney said that Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, was “in a position to know a great deal about the happenings in the Trump White House.”

Cheney said that Hutchinson has “already sat for four videotaped interviews with committee investigators.”

“Again, our future hearings will supply greater detail, putting the testimony today in a broader and more complete context,” she said.

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows who is testifying before the Jan. 6 committee, sat for four videotaped interviews prior to the hearing, said GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice-chair of the committee.

“Ms. Hutchinson was in a position to know a great deal about the happenings in the Trump White House. She has already sat for four videotaped interviews with committee investigators, and we thank her very much for her cooperation and for her courage,” Cheney said at the beginning of the hearing.

Cassidy Hutchinson

Rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the Jan. 6 committee, established at the beginning of Tuesday’s hearing that Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, is among the most knowledgeable witnesses interviewed by the panel because of her close proximity to a variety of key players in the West Wing. 

Not only did Hutchinson work in the West Wing, “several steps down the hall from the Oval Office,” but also “spoke daily with members of Congress, with high-ranking officials in the administration, with senior White House staff, including Mr. Meadows, with White House Counsel’s office lawyers, and with Mr. Tony Ornato who served as the White House Deputy Chief of Staff,” Cheney said. 

Hutchinson has already sat for four video-taped interviews with the committee, Cheney also noted.  

CNN previously reported that Hutchinson went over “new ground” with the committee last month, though it was not immediately clear what was discussed during that deposition.

During one hearing last week, the committee played a video clip of Hutchinson testifying that Meadows and former President Donald Trump’s onetime attorney Rudy Giuliani were involved in early conversations about putting forward fake slates of electors — a core tenet of the broader effort to overturn the 2020 election.

The panel has also played video of Hutchinson testifying that Rep. Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican, wanted then-Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Clark to take over the department — connecting another key part of Trump’s effort to upend Joe Biden’s election win.

Hutchinson has named several Republican members of Congress who she said had inquired about pardons, either for themselves or others, around Jan. 6, 2021, according to other video played by the committee during its hearings, including: Perry and Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Jim Jordan of Ohio and Louie Gohmert of Texas.

CNN has reported that during one of her interviews with the committee, Hutchinson said Trump had suggested to Meadows that he approved of the “hang Mike Pence” chants from rioters who stormed the US Capitol. 

She also testified that Trump had complained about his then-vice president being hustled to safety while Trump supporters breached the Capitol, the sources previously told CNN.

Cassidy Hutchinson arrives to testify on Tuesday.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Jan. 6 committee chair, argued in his opening remarks that Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, embodies “courage” in testifying before the panel today.

Thompson discussed efforts by the committee to obtain information for its investigation in toto the Capitol attack and said, “it hasn’t always been easy to get that information because the same people who drove the former President’s pressure campaign to overturn the election are now trying to cover up the truth about January 6.”

He said, however, that “thanks to the courage of certain individuals, the truth won’t be buried, the American people won’t be left in the dark.”

“Our witness today, Ms. Cassidy Hutchinson has embodied that courage,” Thompson said.

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, is testifying now before the Jan. 6 committee.

A source said Hutchinson brought forward new information in just the last 10 days, and she’ll be testifying to it today. 

Additionally, most of Hutchinson’s interactions were over work email and phone, which were turned over to the National Archives. But she did use her personal phone as well for texts and emails, and those have been turned over to the committee. 

Hutchinson may not be a well-known name outside of Trump world, but she was an access point to the inside of it when Meadows was the former President’s chief of staff. If lawmakers wanted to get in touch with Trump, they called Hutchinson, not the White House switchboard. When they had a message to push to Meadows, they rang Hutchinson, not the legislative affairs staffer, as reported by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

The young aide was there for moments big and small in the final years of the Trump presidency and was so close to Meadows, she made calls for him, arranged his meetings and even used to lint-roll his suit jackets. At least six of her former colleagues that CNN spoke with said her testimony won’t be good for Trump or Meadows. One noted she was aware of Meadows’s activities “or lack thereof” on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Given that her testimony is not expected to be positive, Hutchinson has become increasingly concerned about her security in recent days. A person familiar with her situation said has obtained security in recent days.

CNN previously reported that Hutchinson was likely to testify in person during one of the committee’s upcoming hearings after she replaced her lawyer who had significant links to Trump, according to a source familiar with the matter.

She was not willing to risk getting a contempt of Congress charge in order to impede the probe, a source familiar with the matter said, and the change in representation was a sign that she was more willing to cooperate with the committee.

Rep. Bennie Thompson

The chair of the Jan. 6 House select committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, said the panel has “obtained new information dealing with what was going on in the White House on Jan. 6 and in the days prior.”

Thompson said the committee has received “specific detailed information about what the former President and his top aides were doing and saying in those critical hours, firsthand details of what transpired in the Office of the White House Chief of Staff just steps from the Oval Office as the threats of violence became clear and, indeed, violence ultimately descended on the Capitol in the attack on American democracy.”

“Thanks to the courage of certain individuals, the truth won’t be buried,” he added.

Cassidy Hutchinson enters the room for the House Select Committee hearing on Tuesday.

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack is now starting its sixth public hearing.

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, is expected to testify, according to sources.

Rep. Liz Cheney delivers remarks during a hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol on June 21.

Three sources connected to today’s hearing told CNN that Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the Jan. 6 House select committee, will lead the bulk of today’s hearing and questioning. 

Other members, including Chair Bennie Thompson, will be involved, but Cheney is expected to be the main committee member asking the questions and directing the presentation.

Read more about the committee members here.

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows listens during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in April 2020.

Cassidy Hutchinson’s proximity to Mark Meadows has put the former White House chief of staff on high alert ahead of today’s hearing.

Hutchinson “operated like an executive assistant to him,” said a source familiar with their relationship and her insight into his day-to-day schedule, conversations, and interactions with President Trump is unrivaled. 

“I think the committee has held their fire on Meadows so far but today’s going to be a Meadows day,” the source said. 

Meadows personally promoted Hutchinson to the White House Office of Legislative Affairs to his West Wing office, where this source said, “she was given enormous access and enormous visibility” into his relationship with Trump and several top GOP lawmakers. 

They will be watching today’s hearing closely to see what new information Hutchinson reveals in her sworn testimony, said the second source, who noted that Meadows is specifically concerned that her appearance could further strain his relationship with Trump.

Trump has privately complained to allies in recent months about text messages that Meadows turned over to the House panel before halting his cooperation, and a book Meadows wrote that contained startling new details about the severity of Trump’s battle with Covid-19 also angered the former president. A person close to Trump said he is nervous about Hutchinson’s testimony at Tuesday’s hearing.

Cassidy Hutchinson recently replaced her lawyer who had close ties to the Trump White House – Stefan Passantino – with longtime Justice Department attorney Jody Hunt, who left the Justice Department several years ago after serving for decades. Hunt was chief of staff for Trump’s first Attorney General Jeff Sessions, with Hunt later leading DOJ’s Civil Division as assistant attorney general from 2018-2020.

Hunt was cited several times in Robert Mueller’s report – including from one of his recollections backed by contemporaneous notes when Trump declared, “I’m f—ed,” after hearing Mueller was named as special counsel to oversee the Russia investigation.

Hunt also had revealed to Mueller’s team that Sessions carried a resignation letter in his pocket every time he visited the White House since the President, by that point, had taken to criticizing and ridiculing Sessions in public at every turn.

CNN reached out to Hunt this morning. 

Hutchinson switched legal representation because she felt like Passantino maintained too close of ties to Trump world, multiple sources told CNN, adding that Hutchinson felt as if she could not be as forthright with the committee with Passantino as her lawyer. 

Hutchinson may speak to this during her testimony today. 

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins contributed reporting to this post.

Members of the Jan. 6 House select committee met this morning in the House secure briefing room in preparation for today’s surprise hearing. Meeting in a secure location like this is highly unusual for the committee, as most of the material they are dealing with is not considered classified.

A router familiar with the meeting said it was designed to get members up to speed on today’s testimony and did not include the questioning of today’s witnesses. 

However, the fact that they met in a location such as this could indicate that new information provided to the committee is classified in nature. It is also possible that what the public hears in today’s setting from former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson may not be the sum total of what she has shared with the committee. 

Former President Trump is bracing for an explosive day of testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide and assistant to chief of staff Mark Meadows who previously told the House select committee that Trump approved of rioters chanting violent threats against former Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Trump has previously denied reporting on Hutchinson’s leaked testimony, claiming on his Truth Social platform earlier this month that he “never said, or even thought of saying, ‘Hang Mike Pence.’” 

“This is either a made up story by somebody looking to become a star, or fake news!” he wrote at the time. 

But a person close to Trump said he is nervous about Tuesday’s hearing, which will feature live testimony from Hutchison and “present recently obtained evidence,” the committee announced Monday. Prior to the committee’s announcement on Monday, this person said Trump was feeling triumphant amid back-to-back Supreme Court decisions protecting a right to conceal carry a gun and ending the constitutional right to abortion. 

The former President and his allies are planning to cast Hutchinson as a junior aide who had little influence inside the West Wing, despite her proximity to both Trump and his chief of staff. Hutchinson served in the Office of Legislative Affairs prior to becoming a top aide to Meadows and was an eyewitness to several key episodes leading up to Jan. 6, in addition to witnessing some of Trump’s real-time reactions that day.  

Trump is specifically concerned about what Hutchinson could say about his state of mind and response to the rioters on Jan. 6, said a second person close to him. 

Former Trump White House aides are also very curious to see what Hutchinson has to say in this upcoming surprise hearing, given her constant access to Meadows during key moments in the White House.

Meadows made Hutchinson his legislative aide even though she was only in her 20s when he was chief of staff, and she would accompany Meadows to Capitol Hill for his most serious meetings. Hutchinson was with Meadows “all the time,” one former White House official said. Another source added, “she had very close access to Meadows and Trump, so it will be interesting what she says.” 

One former White House aide said Hutchinson had a falling-out with Meadows in 2021. She was supposed to go to Mar-a-Lago as permanent staff but that never ended up happening. 

A person close to Hutchinson said she has testified to the committee for at least 20 hours detailing her time in key meetings at the White House as Trump and his allies tried to overturn the election results. So far, the committee has only played small snippets from all that testimony, so there is a lot more to learn from her today. As to why she’s doing this amid all the security concerns, this source says she “got caught up in this” as a young staffer in her early 20s and wanted to do the right thing.

One source said “she was the consummate insider” and was on a first-name basis with most congressional leadership.

Another person added Trump will likely claim he doesn’t know her but she was in many key White House meetings with him.

Former President Trump’s orbit will be watching closely as one of the closest aides to his former chief of staff Mark Meadows testifies on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

Cassidy Hutchinson may not be a well-known name outside of Trump world, but she was an access point to the inside of it when Meadows was his chief of staff. If lawmakers wanted to get in touch with Trump, they called Hutchinson, not the White House switchboard. When they had a message to push to Meadows, they rang Hutchinson, not the legislative affairs staffer. 

The young aide was there for moments big and small in the final years of the Trump presidency and was so close to Meadows, she made calls for him, arranged his meetings and even used to lint-roll his suit jackets. At least six of her former colleagues that CNN spoke with said her testimony won’t be good for Trump or Meadows. One noted she was aware of Meadows’s activities “or lack thereof” on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Given that her testimony is not expected to be positive, Hutchinson has become increasingly concerned about her security in recent days. A person familiar with her situation says has obtained security in recent days.

John Dean, former White House counsel for President Nixon, tweeted that the Jan. 6 House select committee needs to deliver important information or risk hurting its credibility, saying there’s a “very high historical standard” set by the surprise witness who testified about former Nixon’s secret taping system during the Watergate hearings.  

Sources told CNN that today’s secrecy was necessary to protect the safety of a witness and that new precautions would be taken in the hearing room, including denying people their regular front-row seats. The committee also said it would present “recently obtained evidence” at the hearing but did not provide details.

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, is expected to testify, according to two sources. 

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol is set to lay out its findings during another public hearing. When and how the events occurred that day have been a key part of the committee’s probe. 

Supporters of then-President Trump breached the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, engulfing the building in chaos after Trump urged his supporters to protest against the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes to certify President Biden’s win. 

Here’s how key events unfolded throughout the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after Trump’s speech: 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement earlier on the evening of Jan. 6 that congressional leadership wanted to continue with the joint session that night. 

Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the floor that the “United States Senate will not be intimidated. We will not be kept out of this chamber by thugs, mobs or threats.” 

It took until deep in the early hours of Thursday morning (Jan. 7, 2021), but Congress eventually counted and certified Biden’s election win. 

See the full timeline of events here. 

Throughout the 2020 campaign, former President Trump repeatedly lied about rampant voter fraud and claimed that the election would be “rigged” against him. He escalated this rhetoric after Election Day by falsely claiming victory, and continued pushing these lies after Biden became the projected President-elect.   

Trump’s campaign and his allies then filed dozens of unsuccessful lawsuits across the country, seeking to overturn the results, based on spurious fraud claims. Despite losing those lawsuits, Trump continued promoting these lies while pressuring federal, state, and local officials to help him stop the transition of power. These officials largely refused to help Trump with his plan.   

Trump repeated these lies during his Ellipse rally on Jan. 6, 2021, which helped spur the Capitol riot. Trump’s rhetoric inspired the majority of Republicans to believe that Biden did not win the 2020 election, according to CNN polling. Many of the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol also expressed this view.  

The Jan. 6 committee has released testimony from Trump advisers revealing that he was told shortly after the election that he lost – but he kept pushing ahead with disinformation and false claims about the election. Some academics and historians have dubbed this phenomenon as “the Big Lie.” 

An image of Former US President Donald Trump is displayed on a screen during a hearing of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol in Washington on June 13.

A prior hearing from the House Jan. 6 committee brought new information to light on what happened the night of the 2020 election inside former President Donald Trump’s White House. 

Here’s what we know: 

The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol is seen during a hearing on June 9.

Former President Donald Trump had a “sophisticated seven-point plan” to overturn the 2020 presidential election over the course of several months, Jan. 6 committee vice chair Liz Cheney said, detailing how the panel plans to use its future hearings to tackle each part of the scheme. 

“On the morning of Jan. 6, President Donald Trump’s intention was to remain president of the United States, despite the lawful outcome of the 2020 election and in violation of his Constitutional obligation to relinquish power,” Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, said in her opening statement during the panel’s first prime-time hearing earlier this month. 

Cheney did not detail the specific points of the plan in her opening statement. She said that the rioters who breached the Capitol and fought with police were motivated by Trump’s actions falsely claiming that the election was stolen from him. 

“President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack,” Cheney said, echoing the statement she made in 2021 when she voted to impeach Trump. 

A committee source later provided CNN the following description of the “sophisticated seven-part plan:” 

“President Trump oversaw a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the 2020 election and prevent the transition of presidential power. 

These are initial findings and the Select Committee’s investigation is still ongoing. In addition, the Department of Justice is currently working with cooperating witnesses, and has disclosed to date only certain of the information it has identified from encrypted communications and other sources.” 

A video produced by the Jan. 6 House select committee played during a hearing detailed former President Donald Trump and his team’s efforts to sway election officials and intimidate election workers following President Biden’s 2020 election win. 

Here’s a look at some of the details the committee laid out: 

Members of the House select committee have been investigating what happened before, after and during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol — and now they will present what they discovered to the public. 

The committee is made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans. It was formed after efforts to create an independent 9/11-style commission failed. 

Rep. Liz Cheney is one of two Republicans on the panel appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pulled all five of his selections because Pelosi would not accept two of his picks. In July 2021, Pelosi invited GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois to join the committee, making him the second GOP lawmaker to sit on the committee. 

Here’s who is on the panel — and key things to know about them: 

Democrats: 

Republicans 

The decision to hold the hearing today was due to a combination of factors for the Jan. 6 House select committee, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. Once the committee knew former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson was willing to testify publicly, the committee did not want to risk waiting and her backing out. In addition, there was an overriding concern about security, which has been a factor for others — including members themselves who face threats over their roles on the committee. 

The committee also suggested in its announcement that there is new evidence to consider.  

Sources also observed that Hutchinson’s willingness to testify publicly could be a powerful incentive for other witnesses to come forward. 

Hutchinson’s posture with the committee changed dramatically when she recently switched attorneys, a source familiar with the planning for today’s hearing told CNN. She had been forthcoming with the committee previously, but she became much more willing to cooperate and provide the committee with new information that had not previously been heard in just the last few weeks. 

Hutchinson’s new insight was a tightly held secret, even within the committee. Sources said only a small group of members were kept apprised of the new information she was providing. Early this week, the committee decided that it needed to get the information out sooner rather than later. Members were concerned about Hutchinson’s security and the chance that she might become reluctant to testify if they waited until after July 4 to make her testimony public.  

Some members of the committee were not made fully aware of the information she was prepared to testify to until today.  

Rep. Bennie Thompson swears in Steven Engel, Jeffrey A. Rosen, and Richard Donoghue during the hearing on June 23.

The Jan. 6 select committee’s latest public hearing last Thursday shed considerable new light on former President Donald Trump’s attempts to weaponize the Justice Department in the final months of his term as part of his plot to overturn the 2020 election and stay in power.

The hearing kicked off mere hours after federal investigators raided the home of Jeffrey Clark, who was one of the key Justice Department figures who was involved in Trump’s schemes. He has denied any wrongdoing related to Jan. 6.

Three Trump appointees testified in-person on Thursday, joining a growing list of Republicans who have gone under oath to provide damning information about Trump’s post-election shenanigans. The witnesses were former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, his deputy Richard Donoghue, and Steven Engel, who led the department’s Office of Legal Counsel.

If you missed last Thursday’s hearing, catch up on key takeaways from the event:

Select committee has the goods on GOP congressional pardons

Thursday’s hearing underscored the role that Trump’s Republican allies in Congress played in furthering his efforts to try to overturn the election — and how many of them sought pardons after Jan. 6.

The House select committee particular zeroed in on the efforts of Rep. Scott Perry, the Pennsylvania Republican who connected Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark to the White House in December 2020.

CNN has previously reported on the role that Perry played, and the committee in court filings released text messages Perry exchanged with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about Clark.

The committee also unveiled new details about Republican members of Congress seeking pardons after Jan. 6, including Perry and Reps. Mo Brooks of Alabama and Matt Gaetz of Florida.

“President Trump asked me to send you this letter. This letter is also pursuant to a request from Matt Gaetz,” said an email Brooks sent to the White House in January 2021, according to the committee. “As such, I recommend that president give general (all purpose) pardons to the following groups of people.”

The email included a group of the names of “every congressman and senator who voted to reject the electoral college vote submissions of Arizona and Pennsylvania.”

Thursday’s hearing was led by Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican who has largely been ostracized by the Republican conference for his role on the Jan. 6 committee.

“My colleagues up here also take an oath. Some of them failed to uphold theirs and instead chose to spread the big lie,” Kinzinger said before discussing pardons.

Kinzinger is retiring at the end of his term.

Inside a December 2020 Oval Office meeting

The hearing brought to life a high-stakes Oval Office meeting in December 2020, where Trump considered firing the acting attorney general and installing Clark, who was willing to use the powers of federal law enforcement to encourage state lawmakers to overturn Trump’s loss.

Going into these summer hearings, we already knew a lot about the meeting. But on Thursday, for the first time, we heard live testimony from some of the Justice Department officials who were in the room, including Rosen, the then-acting attorney general. (He survived the meeting, after Trump was told that there would be mass resignations at the Justice Department if he replaced Rosen with Clark.)

Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann said Clark was repeatedly “clobbered over the head” during the meeting. He told the committee that he called Clark a “f—ing a–hole” and said his plans would’ve been illegal. He also said Clark’s plan to send letters to battleground states was “nuts.”

In videotaped testimony that was played Thursday, Donoghue said he eviscerated Clark’s credentials during the meeting, explaining that Clark was woefully under-qualified to serve as attorney general.

Donoghue said then-White House counsel Pat Cipollone called Clark’s plan a “murder-suicide pact.”

Donoghue himself described Clark’s plan as “impossible” and “absurd.”

“It’s never going to happen,” Donoghue said of the plan. “And it’s going to fail.”

Thanks to the pushback from Rosen, Donoghue, Herschmann, Cipollone, and perhaps others, Trump didn’t follow through with his plan, which would’ve put the country in uncharted waters, and would have increased the chances of Trump successfully pulling off his coup attempt.

Keep reading here.

A video of Cassidy Hutchinson, aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, appears on screen during the hearing on June 23.

Former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who is expected to testify publicly on Tuesday, has answered the Jan. 6 House select committee’s questions during three separate sessions and went over “new ground” with the panel last month, though it was not immediately clear what was discussed during that deposition.

During one hearing last week, the committee played a video clip of Hutchinson testifying that Meadows and former President Donald Trump’s onetime attorney Rudy Giuliani were involved in early conversations about putting forward fake slates of electors – a core tenet of the broader effort to overturn the 2020 election.

The panel has also played video of Hutchinson testifying that Rep. Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican, wanted then-Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Clark to take over the department – connecting another key part of Trump’s effort to upend Joe Biden’s election win.

Hutchinson also named several Republican members of Congress who, she said, had inquired about pardons, either for themselves or others, in the lead-up to Jan. 6, according to other video played by the committee during its hearings, including: Perry and Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Jim Jordan of Ohio and Louie Gohmert of Texas.

CNN has reported that during one of her interviews with the committee, Hutchinson said Trump had suggested to Meadows that he approved of the “hang Mike Pence” chants from rioters who stormed the US Capitol.

She also testified that Trump had complained about his then-vice president being hustled to safety while Trump supporters breached the Capitol, the sources previously told CNN.

CNN previously reported that Hutchinson was likely to testify in person during one of the committee’s upcoming hearings after she replaced her lawyer who had significant links to Trump, according to a source familiar with the matter.

She was not willing to risk getting a contempt of Congress charge in order to impede the probe, the source familiar said, and the change in representation was a sign that she was more willing to cooperate with the committee.

John Eastman appears on screen during a hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol on June 21.

FBI seized the phone of former President Donald Trump’s election attorney John Eastman last week, according to a new court filing from the conservative lawyer.

Eastman disclosed the search and seizure in federal court in a lawsuit that he filed in New Mexico on Monday, calling it improper.

The revelation highlights the aggressive steps the Justice Department has taken in recent weeks as part of its ongoing criminal probe.

Federal agents from the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General, which is coordinating with the wider FBI and US attorney investigation into January 6, 2021, last week raided the home of former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, a source familiar previously told CNN. That search — during which the Justice Department inspector general’s participation had not been previously reported — came the same day as Eastman’s.

The inspector general investigates accusations of legal violations by Justice Department employees and has the ability to conduct searches and seizures. After investigating, the inspector general can refer possible criminal matters to prosecutors.

Eastman’s lawyers cited a reference in the warrant to the inspector general’s office potentially analyzing the phone’s contents, though it remains unclear to what extent the watchdog may be involved in his case.

Neither Eastman nor Clark have been charged with any crime.

Attorneys for Clark haven’t responded to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the DOJ inspector general’s office declined to comment on Monday.

Last Wednesday, about six federal investigators approached Eastman in New Mexico when he was exiting a restaurant after dinner with his wife and a friend, according to the court filings. He was patted down, and “forced to provide [facial] biometric data to open” the phone, Eastman’s court filing said.

Agents were able to get access to Eastman’s email accounts on his iPhone 12 Pro, the filings said.

Eastman is the latest person whose communications have become part of extensive Justice Department investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

Eastman contends the agents “forced” him to unlock his phone.

In court, he is asking a federal judge to force the Justice Department to return his property, destroy records they’ve obtained and put on hold investigators’ access to the phone.

Read more here.

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and a witness to many critical events and conversations, is expected to testify publicly on Tuesday before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, according to two sources familiar with the matter. 

Her planned appearance was first reported by Punchbowl News. 

Hutchinson has already been interviewed by the committee behind closed doors and video clips from her deposition have been featured by the panel during earlier hearings. But her live testimony marks a significant moment in the committee’s series of hearings as Hutchinson has long been considered one of its most consequential witnesses due to her proximity to former President Donald Trump’s then-White House chief of staff. 

The appearance was hastily arranged on a week where no public activity was anticipated and announced by the committee just 24 hours before it commenced.

The US Capitol is seen on Tuesday morning.

The committee investigating the Capitol Hill insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, added a previously unexpected public hearing for Tuesday afternoon, the committee announced Monday.

The panel did not reveal the hearing’s topic when it announced the schedule.

The announcement came as a surprise to many as the committee had said it was not going to resume its hearings until mid-July. Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the committee’s chairman, told reporters last week that the panel needed more time to go through the new documentary footage it received from documentarian Alex Holder, who possesses never-before-seen footage of Trump and his family, new information from the National Archives, and new tips coming in through the panel’s tip line since the hearings started in order to move forward with its hearings

The committee said it would “present recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony.”

Tuesday’s hearing starts at 1 p.m. ET. It will be the panel’s sixth hearing this month.

In its first five hearings, the committee laid out how former President Donald Trump knew he lost the 2020 presidential election but pressured former Vice President Mike Pence, state officials, and the Department of Justice to work to keep him in office anyway.

Members on the committee previously laid out that its final two hearings would focus on the role domestic extremist groups played in attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and would fill in the gaps of what Trump was doing as the violence at the Capitol unfolded.

Holder’s “Unprecedented” three-part docuseries about the 2020 election will be released on Discovery Plus, which is owned by CNN’s parent company, later this summer. The documentary includes never-before-seen footage of the Trump family on the campaign trail and their reactions to the outcome of the election.