- The Washington Times - Wednesday, June 5, 2024

House investigators have obtained evidence showing that Democrats blocked former President Donald Trump’s Secret Service driver from quickly refuting the testimony from White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson, who alleged a struggle in the presidential limousine during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to a new report.

The Democrat-led Jan. 6 committee delayed the agent’s testimony for months, according to Rep. Barry Loudermilk and a transcript of the driver’s interview, Just The News reported.

“We’re talking about the driver of the limousine, and the head of the entire protective detail,” Mr. Loudermilk said in an interview with the outlet. “They were brought in by the select committee to testify, but they weren’t brought in until November.”

Mr. Loudermilk, Georgia Republican and chairman of the House subcommittee currently investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 events for the GOP, condemned the delay by the previous committee, suggesting it kept crucial information from the public ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. 

Ms. Hutchinson, a former Trump White House aide, gave her account during nationally televised hearings in June 2022, claiming that another staffer told her that Mr. Trump tried to violently commandeer his Secret Service limousine on Jan. 6 to go to the Capitol with demonstrators.

Mr. Loudermilk noted that the driver and the head of the entire presidential protective detail were finally brought in to testify only in November, months after Ms. Hutchinson’s narrative had been presented. The transcript confirms that the Secret Service driver testified Mr. Trump never tried to reach for or grab the wheel of the SUV, contradicting Mr. Hutchinson’s account.

The Secret Service driver’s refutation was not solicited until the day before the November election in 2022, after millions of early ballots had already been cast. The transcript reviewed by Just the News shows the driver’s lawyer complained that his client had offered to testify in July, August, and September of 2022, but was rebuffed by the Jan. 6 committee led by Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, Mississippi Democrat, and then-Vice Chairwoman Rep. Liz Cheney, Wyoming Republican.

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