Former Trump White House chief of staff-turned-CBS contributor Mick Mulvaney called new video shown by the Jan. 6 House select committee at its prime-time hearing Thursday “powerful” and “stunning.”
“That video was stunning,” Mulvaney said after the panel shared the video. “And more powerful than anything Bennie or Liz said,” he added, referring to opening statements from the panel’s chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and its vice chairwoman Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).
During Thursday’s hearing, the committee played new video showing staffers on Capitol Hill rushing for exits as the mob overtook the Capitol building.
Mulvaney, a former House Republican from South Carolina who served as then-President Trump’s chief of staff until he was replaced in early 2020, joined CBS as a contributor and political analyst in March. His hiring was reportedly met with some consternation from staffers within the network.
Mulvaney served in various roles during the Trump administration, including as Trump’s envoy to Northern Ireland. He resigned from that position a day after the Capitol riot, citing Trump’s handling of the events that day.
He later said the incident was “different” than previous controversies he dealt with while running the Trump White House.
“I thought it was important for someone who is not establishment, not a ‘never Trumper,’ to say that was wrong,” Mulvaney said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” just days after the attack.
The committee used Thursday’s hearing to begin to lay out its case that Trump worked to overturn the 2020 election results and rile up his supporters to attempt to stop Congress from certifying the election results.