New York: Star witness White House counsel to former US President Donald Trump has testified that Trump should have conceded the 2020 election verdict to the winner democrat Joe Biden and he has mostly corroborated and did not deny previous testimonies of witnesses including Cassidy Hutchinson on what happened on the January 6 Capitol Hill’s insurrection.
Cipollone testified in closed doors on Friday before the committee and the video was made public on Tuesday at the crucial hearings of the senate committee which has now lined up another star witness Stephen Bannon, former white house strategist to Trump, media executive and banker, who stands trial for criminal charges on July 18 and he had prior knowledge of January 6 events as he had said in a message on January 5 “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow”.
Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone testified before the January 6 committee on Friday. Rep. Zoe Lofgren said that he “did not contradict” previous witnesses, and the committee had “learned a few things.” The panel subpoenaed Cipollone last week following Cassidy Hutchinson’s bombshell testimony.
Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone “did not contradict” testimony of previous witnesses when he appeared on Friday before the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, Rep. Zoe Lofgren said.
Lofgren, a Democratic congresswoman and member of the panel, told CNN that the committee had also “learned a few things” after interviewing Cipollone for nearly eight hours. The Congresswoman said details of Cipollone’s testimony would be rolled out in upcoming hearings. She noted that Cipollone appeared voluntarily and said that he answered various questions in a candid, careful, and honest way.
However, she said that just because he did not contradict previous testimony, it did not mean he confirmed all of it, particularly Cassidy Hutchinson’s bombshell testimony. Lofgren said that there were situations in which Cipollone was not present or “couldn’t recall with precision”.
Cipollone, a sought-after witness for the panel, was reported to have expressed concerns about then-President Donald Trump’s actions around January 6 and resisted schemes to overturn the 2020 election.
Cipollone was subpoenaed by the panel last week following Hutchinson’s testimony, after having already spoken with the committee during an informal interview in April.
Hutchinson said in her testimony that Cipollone warned that Trump would be charged with “every crime imaginable” if he went to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, along with thousands of protesters.
It was reported earlier this month that Cipollone was in talks to testify about the riot publicly. He indicated that his testimony revolved around Jeffrey Clark, a former top Justice Department official, who used his position to aid Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, it is alleged, according to the Business Insider that tracked today’s hearings.
Legal experts previously told Insider’s Camila DeChalus that Cipollone’s first-hand account of whether Trump was aware that he was potentially engaging in criminal activity could strengthen a case against him by the Justice Department. Trump has criticized Cipollone testifying in front of the panel, arguing that it could discourage future presidents from having “candid” conversations with a White House counsel.
“Why would a future President of the US want to have candid and important conversations with his White House Counsel if he thought there was even a small chance that this person, essentially acting as a ‘lawyer’ for the Country, may someday be brought before a partisan and openly hostile Committee in Congress,” Trump wrote on his social-media platform, Truth Social, on Wednesday.
(IANS)
