Ex-White House lawyer Pat Cipollone agrees to testify in possible dramatic breakthrough for Jan. 6 probe
Former White House lawyer Pat Cipollone reportedly agreed to give a deposition to the Jan. 6 committee on Friday in what could turn out to be a dramatic breakthrough for the explosive investigation.
The crucial witness, who had a front-row seat on former President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election, agreed to submit written answers to the committee’s questions after balking at a videotaped session, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
Cipollone had previously been warned to give a deposition by Wednesday after being hit with a subpoena.
Former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone (Alex Wong/)
The ex-White House counsel had already cooperated to some extent with the committee, but it wants far more information.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the committee’s vice-chairwoman, called out Cipollone by name at the last hearing, saying the American people deserve to hear what he knows about the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The agreement for Cipollone to speak to the panel follows last week’s dramatic testimony from former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. The former aide to former chief of staff Mark Meadows provided the committee with a striking account of what she saw and heard in those weeks and presented lawmakers with arguably their clearest case for how Trump or some of his allies could face criminal liability.
Hutchinson also testified that Cipollone was present at a crisis meeting on Jan. 6 when Trump responded to the mob’s chants of “Hang Mike Pence” by saying his vice president “deserved it.”
If Trump did go to the Capitol, Hutchinson recalled Cipollone saying, “we’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable.” He had previously identified obstruction of justice or defrauding the electoral count as among the possibilities, she said.
The tug-of-war over Cipollone heated up as the committee prepares for its seventh hearing on Tuesday.
No witnesses have been announced yet but the panel had previously said that it would turn its attention to the planning for the attack and the role of violent right-wing extremist and white nationalist groups.
Some evidence revealed by the committee and federal prosecutors suggests that Trump insiders coordinated closely with radical groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. The extremists plotted to turn the Jan. 6 rally into a military-style attack on Congress and hoped to capture and execute the perceived enemies of Trump.
With News Wire Services
