Former W.H aide Cassidy Hutchinson 'stands by all of the testimony she provided' to Jan. 6 committee

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, is standing by her testimony before the Jan. 6 committee that then-President Trump "lunged" at two Secret Service agents and tried to grab the steering wheel to go to the Capitol.Show more

"Ms. Hutchinson stands by all of the testimony she provided yesterday, under oath, to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol," her attorneys, Jody Hunt and William Jordan, told TAN News in a statement on Wednesday.

Hutchinson relayed an account to the committee that she says was told to her by Tony Ornato, another White House aide.

Trump grew irate when a Secret Service agent, Bobby Engel, told him that they were not going to the Capitol on Jan. 6, then "lunged" at Engel and another unnamed Secret Service agent who was driving the presidential SUV, Hutchinson told the committee, recounting what was allegedly told to her by Ornato.

"The president said something to the effect of, 'I'm the f- president. Take me up to the Capitol now," Hutchinson testified, noting that she was also told Trump tried to grab the steering wheel.

Both Secret Service agents involved in the alleged incident are prepared to testify that Trump did not lunge at them or try to grab the steering wheel, though he was furious when he was told that the SUV was going back to the West Wing instead of the Capitol, a source close to the Secret Service tells TAN News.

Engel, who was in the SUV, and Ornato, who was not in the SUV but allegedly recounted the story to Hutchinson, testified before the Jan. 6 committee in private over the past year. Ornato was shocked when he watched Hutchinson's testimony on Tuesday, the source said.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a member of the Jan. 6 committee, defended Hutchinson as a witness after the pushback, saying that she has "no motivation or interest in lying in any way."

"Look, anybody who wants to testify, can come forward and testify under oath about what happened. All we’re interested in is the truth," Raskin told MSNBC on Wednesday.

Hutchinson also testified that her former boss sought a presidential pardon from Trump, but Meadows denied that on Wednesday.