The top spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service testified Monday before the House panel investigating the Capitol riot and discussed the bombshell testimony over the summer from Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, sources familiar with the matter told NBC News on Tuesday.
Anthony Guglielmi’s testimony, first reported by The Washington Post, touched on statements he made on behalf of the agency in the aftermath of Hutchinson’s public testimony before the House Jan. 6 committee, the sources said.
NBC News has reached out to Guglielmi and the Jan. 6 committee for comment.
Hutchinson testified under oath that on Jan. 6, 2021, then-President Donald Trump tried to grab the steering wheel while inside an armored SUV and lunged toward his security detail when he learned that he would not be taken to the Capitol, where a mob of his supporters was gathering.
Hutchinson said the incident was recounted to her in a conversation with Tony Ornato, White House deputy chief of staff for operations. She also said that Bobby Engel, who led Trump’s security detail had not disputed Ornato’s account. Hutchinson’s account quickly came under scrutiny after sources told NBC News that two witnesses were prepared to testify under oath that the incident never happened.
Ornato left the agency in August for a job in the private sector, but at the time of the Jan. 6 riot had served as deputy chief of staff for operations as political appointee.
A person close to the Secret Service said after Hutchinson’s testimony that the alleged altercation had not occurred, and suggested that Engel and the driver would say as much under oath. Guglielmi said at the time that the agency was “cooperating fully” and that any and all personnel requested by the Jan. 6 committee were available to testify under oath.
The Jan. 6 committee last held a public hearing in October. The panel is expected to continue its work beyond the Nov. 8 elections. But if Republicans win the House next week, it’s unlikely that the committee’s investigation would extend beyond early January when the new Congress is sworn in.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
