“At least one of the issues was a number of the things that she gave evidence on were secondhand hearsay,” the ex-Trump prosecutor testified, 12/17/2025. (Credit: AP)
The House Select January 6th Committee’s “star” Cassidy Hutchinson provided “second hearsay” about the 2021 Capitol riot and wasn’t considered as a witness in the election interference case brought against President Trump, according to former special counsel Jack Smith.
Smith told the House Judiciary Committee in a closed-door deposition on Dec. 17 that Hutchinson — who testified at the Jan. 6 select panel’s made-for-TV hearings in June 2022 — “certainly” wouldn’t have made a “powerful” witness because she couldn’t provide “firsthand” testimony.
“My recollection with Ms. Hutchinson, at least one of the issues was a number of the things that she gave evidence on were secondhand hearsay, were things that she had heard from other people,” the ex-Trump prosecutor testified to the Judiciary lawmakers and staff, the deposition’s transcript shows.
The House Select January 6th Committee’s “star witness” Cassidy Hutchinson provided “secondhand hearsay” about the 2021 Capitol riot, according to former special counsel Jack Smith. (Credit: Getty Images)
“As a result, that testimony may or may not be admissible, and it certainly wouldn’t be as powerful as firsthand testimony,” Smith said.
That included “sensational” allegations that the 45th president lunged toward the wheel of his Secret Service SUV, known as “the Beast,” in an attempt to commandeer it from his driver as a mob of his supporters were seeking to halt the certification of the 2020 election on Capitol Hill.
“I’m the f—ing president! Take me up to the Capitol now!” Trump allegedly screamed at the Secret Service agent, according to Hutchinson’s testimony in a live-broadcasted House hearing on June 28, 2022.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Anthony Ornato, who by Hutchinson’s own admission relayed the startling incident to her, immediately claimed her account was false.
The agent and the driver of the vehicle also separately refuted Hutchinson’s testimony as well, with the president’s chauffeur telling committee members in a non-televised interview that Trump “never grabbed the steering wheel” or “lunge[d] to try to get into the front seat at all.”
But the Democrat-led House committee “hid the driver’s full testimony” and did not release the full transcript, according to Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), who opened a probe into the select panel and Jan. 6 after the GOP retook the majority in 2023. (Read more: New York Post, 12/31/2025) (Archive)