Former President Donald Trump dismissed the ex-White House aide who testified before the Jan. 6 committee on Tuesday as a leaker and a ’phony’ whom he denied a job after his presidency ended.
Mr. Trump said Cassidy Hutchinson, who served under former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, requested to join others from the president’s team in Florida after he left office, but he rejected her.
“Why did she want to go with us if she felt we were so terrible?” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I understand that she was very upset and angry that I didn’t want her to go, or be a member of the team. She is bad news!”
Mr. Trump also dismissed several claims she made about his behavior in the White House, including an episode where he threw his lunch out of anger and grabbed the steering wheel from a Secret Service officer after he was denied a trip to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The former president also said allegations that he had urged the Secret Service to get rid of magnetometers at his rally ahead of the riot last year were false, adding that his supporters bore no weapons.
“I didn’t want or request that we make room for people with guns to watch my speech,” Mr. Trump said. “Who would ever want that? Not me! Besides, there were no guns found or brought into the Capitol Building … so where were all of these guns? But sadly, a gun was used on Ashli Babbitt, with no price to pay against the person who used it!”
Mr. Trump also called Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican who is vice-chair of the committee, “disgraceful” for not playing the part of his speech where he asked demonstrators to march to the Capitol “peacefully and patriotically.”
Mr. Trump also repeated his claims that he believed the 2020 election was stolen by President Biden.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who is a staunch supporter of Mr. Trump and has echoed his stolen election claims, encouraged the former president to sue Ms. Hutchinson.
“I hope you sue the little liar,” she posted on Truth Social.
Ms. Hutchinson was the committee’s sole witness on Tuesday’s snap hearing.
In her testimony, she alleged Mr. Trump had been aware of deadly weapons being worn and distributed among his crowd of supporters and that his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani and her former boss, Mr. Meadows, sought pardons in relation to Jan. 6.
The committee will hold more hearings in July, as it wraps up its investigation into the riot.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.