Cassidy Hutchinson, a former special assistant to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified on Tuesday that she received a call from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) during then-President Trump’s speech at the Ellipse, urging them not to come to the Capitol.
McCarthy called Hutchinson after Trump, during his remarks at the Ellipse rally, said he and a massive group of his supporters would be marching to the Capitol. Hutchinson said she was in a tent behind the stage and did not hear Trump urging his supporters.
Speaking to the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack, Hutchinson said McCarthy “sounded rushed, but also frustrated and angry at me.”
“He then explained ‘the president just said he’s marching to the Capitol. You told me this whole week you aren’t coming up here, why would you lie to me?’” McCarthy said, according to Hutchinson.
The ex-White House aide told McCarthy she was not lying, emphasizing that the president was not going to the Capitol.
“And he said ‘well, he just said it on stage. Cassidy. Figure it out, don’t come up here.’ I said I’ll run the traps on this and I’ll shoot you a text, I can assure you we’re not coming up to the Capitol, we’ve already made that decision,” Hutchinson testified.
She said McCarthy “pressed a little bit more,” adding that he was “believing me, but I think frustrated that the president had said that, and we ended the phone conversation after that.”
After the conversation, Hutchinson said she called the deputy White House chief of staff to reconfirm that the president was not going to the Capitol.
“I sent Mr. McCarthy another text telling him the affirmative, that we were not going up to the Capitol, and he did not respond after that,” Hutchinson testified.
During the Tuesday hearing, the committee also presented previous testimony from White House aides, who said Trump expressed an interest in going to the Capitol on Jan. 6.