Newly disclosed transcripts from secret testimony before the January 6 Committee reveal that a witness affirmed that then-President Donald Trump did not engage in physical altercation with a Secret Service agent and instead had requested military support to safeguard the Capitol.
The transcript, stemming from a closed-door interview conducted with Deputy Chief of Staff Anthony Ornato and then-Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) on January 28, 2022, had been withheld by the committee, despite its significance in contradicting sensational allegations.
Of note, Cheney amplified claims made by former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who had asserted publicly, and with considerable media attention, that Trump had attempted to seize control of his presidential vehicle to travel to the Capitol during the riot.
As highlighted by Breitbart News and various other sources during Hutchinson’s compelling testimony in June 2022, multiple individuals, including Ornato, were ready to provide public testimony to discredit her assertions (which were also debunked by other means).
However, Cheney and other committee members declined Ornato’s offer, employing a tactic reminiscent of Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) during the initial impeachment inquiry, where inconvenient witnesses were sidelined.
Furthermore, Cheney and the committee asserted in their concluding report that there was no proof Trump had asked for 10,000 National Guard troops to safeguard the Capitol. However, Ornato had testified to hearing Trump make precisely that request.
Mollie Hemingway of the Federalist brought attention to the Ornato transcript, which was discovered by the House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight, under the leadership of Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA). Hemingway detailed:
Former Rep. Liz Cheney’s January 6 Committee suppressed evidence that President Donald Trump pushed for 10,000 National Guard troops to protect the nation’s capital, a previously hidden transcript obtained by The Federalist shows.
Cheney and her committee falsely claimed they had “no evidence” to support Trump officials’ claims the White House had communicated its desire for 10,000 National Guard troops. In fact, an early transcribed interview conducted by the committee included precisely that evidence from a key source. The interview, which Cheney attended and personally participated in, was suppressed from public release until now.
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Asked if he ever heard anything about Trump deciding to go to the Capitol that day, Ornato said he hadn’t. Ornato said Trump had driven by a previous rally, had flown over another, and that handlers had previously decided against him joining the day’s events.
Loudermilk, who was unjustly singled out by the January 6 Committee through baseless allegations suggesting he had conducted a tour for Capitol rioters prior to the incident, had previously discovered that the committee had disposed of a significant portion of the evidence it had gathered.
This action was taken despite then-incoming Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (D-CA) explicitly instructing the committee in late 2022 to preserve all collected evidence.
Interestingly, Trump is still confronted with federal charges related to mishandling government documents.
