Trump’s Secret Service driver wanted to quickly refute Cassidy Hutchinson’s J6 tale but was rebuffed

Rep. Barry Loudermilk says he’s deeply concerned by delay from Democrat-led Jan. 6 panel because it misled Americans.

Published: June 4, 2024 11:04pm

House investigators have obtained evidence showing that former President Donald Trump’s Secret Service driver wanted to quickly refute testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson alleging a struggle in the presidential limousine during the Capitol riots but the Democrat-led January 6 committee rebuffed him for months.

The evidence was confirmed to Just the News both by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, the chairman of the House subcommittee that is investigating the Jan. 6 tragedy now for Republicans, and a transcript of the driver’s interview that was conducted months after he first offered to testify. 

Loudermilk on Tuesday evening decried the delay by the Democrat-led Jan. 6 committee, saying it kept Americans in the dark for months ahead of the 2022 midterm elections that there was firsthand testimony refuting Hutchinson’s sensational hearsay narrative that Trump tried to violently commandeer his Secret Service limousine on Jan. 6, 2021, to take it to the Capitol. 

Hutchinson, a former Trump White House aide, gave the account during nationally televised hearings in June 2022, more than five months before the elections, but the Secret Service agent’s refutation wasn’t solicited until the day before the November Election Day, after millions of early ballots were cast.

The transcript of the driver’s testimony reviewed by Just the News shows his lawyer complained that his client had offered to testify in July, August and September of 2022, but was “rebuffed” by the January 6 committee led by Chairman Rep. Benny Thompson, a Democrat, and Vice Chairwoman Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican, both fierce opponents of Trump.

“We're talking about the driver of the limousine, and the head of the entire protective detail,” Loudermilk said during a wide-ranging interview with the "Just the News, No Noise" television show. “They were brought in by the select committee to testify, but they weren't brought in until November.

“It was in June when they paraded Hutchinson before the world, and they let the world hear the stories. And what's interesting is in the very beginning of the driver’s testimony, his attorney starts off by chastising the select committee,” Loudermilk also said. “And he said we offered to come in July, August, September, and now it's November. So we found out for the first time that the driver had been offering to come in and testify under oath as far back as just a few weeks after Cassidy made these claims, but the select committee would not bring them in.”

Loudermilk’s description is confirmed by the transcript, which also shows the Secret Service driver testified Trump never tried to reach for or grab the wheel of the SUV as Hutchinson, who wasn’t in the vehicle, alleged in her testimony.

The transcript also shows that Cheney tried to explain to the driver’s lawyer why there was such a long delay in accepting his offer to testify, claiming the committee wanted to wait until the Secret Service produced all documents in the January 6 investigation.

Cheney did not explain why the committee allowed Hutchinson to testify in summer 2022, before the documents were turned over, but then delayed the driver's refutation until much later. 

During his interview Tuesday, Loudermilk made clear that he has deep concerns about the way Thompson and Cheney conducted the January 6 investigation, noting they kept transcripts from his committee for months after he took over and still have not produced videotapes of many of the interviews.

“Well, it's kind of clear that it either was the worst case of preserving documents in the history of the House of Representatives, or that they were only trying to keep those testimonies away,” he said. “Because, you know, immediately they bring Cassidy Hutchinson to the forefront, then they wait until November to even bring in the Secret Service agent.”

Also, Loudermilk on Tuesday requested Alyssa Farah Griffin, former White House director of Strategic Communication and co-host on ABC's "The View," provide her communications with the Democrat-led House Select Committee on Jan. 6 and with Hutchinson.

Loudermilk wants the exchanges prior to Hutchinson's public testimony. 

He requested the communications records by June 18. He also asked Griffin in his letter to her to appear for a "transcribed interview" in Washington, D.C., at a "mutually agreeable date and time." 

The letter, also addressed to her attorney, notes that Griffin spoke with Hutchinson about her options prior to her formal public testimony before the Jan. 6 Select Committee and Griffin "agreed to contact Liz Cheney" on Hutchinson's "behalf about scheduling another interview" with the select committee.

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