One of the most sensational and widely publicized claims about Donald Trump's behavior on January 6th was contradicted by a key witness - whose testimony was buried by the January 6th committee.
The notorious account of Trump lunging for the steering wheel of his limousine is not true, his Secret Service driver told the committee, contradicting star witness Cassidy Hutchinson.
The driver's testimony was left out of the January 6th committee's final report.
House Republicans released an 81-page report Monday scrutinizing the "cherry-picked" work of the January 6th committee, which shared its findings in a lengthy report of its own.
Hutchinson's dramatic account of Trump lunging at a Secret Service agent was the climax of the committee's public hearings, but the GOP's report notes that four White House officials were unable to back up the sensational story, including the limo driver.
The Secret Service agent brought up Hutchinson's story on his own to say it was false during a November 2022 interview with the January 6th committee.
"The driver of the SUV testified that he ‘did not see him reach [redacted]. [President Trump] never grabbed the steering wheel. I didn’t see him, you know, lunge to try to get into the front seat at all,’” the report said.
The final report "hid the driver’s full testimony and only favorably mentioned his testimony," the GOP's report added.
The witness who Hutchinson cited as her primary source, White House Deputy Chief Of Staff For Operations Anthony Ornato, told the January 6th committee that he heard the account for the first time during Hutchinson's public testimony, the GOP report added.
Hutchinson also did not mention the story during three prior interviews with the committee, only mentioning it for the first time eight days before the committee scheduled her public testimony.
The January 6th committee did not attempt to corroborate Hutchinson's claims until months after her high-profile testimony, "when it was obvious
Republicans would win control of the House," the Republican report found.
Before losing control of the House, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) controversially rejected the GOP's picks to serve on the January 6th committee and handpicked Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both anti-Trump Republicans, to represent the opposition.
"Without minority representation on the Select Committee, there was no cross examination of Hutchinson’s testimony or the testimony of other witnesses," the Republican report concluded.
