House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) is blasting the House Committee investigating Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol as new doubts are being cast on explosive testimony from former White House aid Cassidy Hutchinson.
During an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday, Scalise addressed testimony from Hutchinson, who at one point interned for him, as he said, “I’ve seen some of the excerpts. And it looks like one more day of salacious headlines.”
“And already today we’re seeing Secret Service agents saying it didn’t happen, what was testified to in committee yesterday didn’t even happen,” he continued.
Finally, Scalise argued, “This is why Pelosi set this up from day one to be a partisan committee, a witch hunt just to keep going after Donald Trump — not to get facts. She kicked Republicans off the committee. She didn’t want the facts. They just want to keep going after Trump.”
Scalise’s later comments refer to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) decision to block Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) from joining the committee.
Watch the video below:
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) on powerful 1/6 committee testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson: “This is why Pelosi set this up from day one to be a partisan committee, a witch hunt.”
— The Recount (@therecount) June 29, 2022
(In 2021, Republicans blocked a plan for an independent, bipartisan commission.) pic.twitter.com/0ccnmAdFp8
On Tuesday, Hutchinson recounted a story she alleged was told to her by White House aide Tony Ornato.
“So once the president had gotten into the vehicle with Bobby, he thought that they were going up to the Capitol. And when [Secret Service Special Agent Bobby Engel] had relayed to him, we’re not. We don’t have the assets to do it. It’s not secure. We’re going back to the West Wing. The president had a very strong, very angry response to that,” Hutchinson testified.
She continued, “[Ornato] described him as being irate. The president said something to the effect of, ‘I’m the f*****g president! Take me up to the Capitol now.’ To which Bobby responded, ‘Sir, we have to go back to the West Wing.’”
She went on:
“The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm, said, ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We’re going back to the West Wing. We’re not going to the Capitol.’ Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel and when Mr. Ornato had recounted the story to me, he had motioned towards his clavicles.”
Trump fired back after her testimony, calling her a “total phony” and insisting the story was “fake news.”
in Truth Social, Trump dismisses Hutchinson as something akin to a coffee boy pic.twitter.com/D4r7x0xw3M
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 28, 2022
Additionally, multiple reporters shared that the Secret Service agents are reportedly willing to testify that the incident did not occur.
For its part, the addressed doubts as a spokesperson for the panel told CNN, “The Committee trusts the credibility of a witness who was willing to testify under oath [and] in public.”
“But [it] is also willing to hear any information that others may have that would aid in their investigation,” the spokesperson added.
