The January 6 Committee unveiled its surprise star witness on Tuesday — Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows — yet committee member Rep. Jaime Raskin (D-MD) admitted that her testimony was only hearsay.
Hutchinson testified before the committee that Secret Service agent Anthony Ornato told her that on January 6, 2021, then-President Donald Trump attempted to grab the steering wheel of the presidential limo “The Beast” and commandeer the vehicle to the U.S. Capitol to join protesters upset about the 2020 presidential election results. She added that the president was rebuffed by the head of Trump’s Secret Service detail, Robert Engel, who grabbed the president’s wrist. She then claimed that Ornato told her that Trump reached for Engel’s clavicle with his free hand.
While told vividly, the story seemed to lack any hard evidence and was only a second-hand account. CNN’s Jake Tapper pressed Raskin on that point Tuesday evening and asked for any subsequent corroboration from previous testimony.
“She did not see it happen,” Tapper said to Raskin Tuesday evening. “Do you have any corroborating evidence? You have interviewed both Ornato, or the committee has interviewed both Engle and Ornato, two Secret Service agents. Do you have any corroborating evidence that that story is true or do you only have it from Cassidy Hutchinson?”
Raskin could not provide any solid proof besides implying that it sounded true.
via joemiller
