Former President Donald Trump tried to call a White House support staffer who has been speaking with the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol and could have corroborated the damning testimony given by former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson last month.
CNN first reported Wednesday that Trump called the support staffer — whose position had not been identified — shortly after Hutchinson, an assistant to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified publicly before the committee. The support staff member didn’t regularly communicate with the president while Trump was in office, and so the staffer was concerned about the call, CNN added.
The witness also could have corroborated part of Hutchinson’s testimony under oath, according to the site’s sources. CNN did not note what specific role the person served in.
NBC later reported that it had confirmed CNN’s reporting.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said it was “highly unusual” for Trump to make the call.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a member of the Jan. 6 panel, revealed earlier this week during a hearing that Trump “tried to call” an unnamed witness, saying the person did not pick up the call but had told their lawyer about the communication.
“Let me say one more time: We will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously,” Cheney said during Tuesday’s hearing, adding that she had referred the matter to the Department of Justice.
In Hutchinson’s testimony before the House panel, she told lawmakers that Trump knew the crowd during his “Stop the Steal” rally preceding the Jan. 6 insurrection was heavily armed and that Meadows told her he thought things could get “real, real bad” that day as Trump tried to retain power after losing the 2020 election.
Hutchinson also testified that the then-president tried to grab the wheel of his armored limousine when the Secret Service said they couldn’t take him to the U.S. Capitol for security reasons.
Lawmakers have since said her testimony helped uncover new information in its probe, expressing confidence in her accounts despite efforts by Trump and his surrogates to discount her role in the White House.