Former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone has agreed to testify before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The news was first reported by The New York Times. The source told the AP that Cipollone agreed to appear before the committee for a private, transcribed interview
The panel said that Cipollone, who was subpoenaed by the House Jan. 6 panel last week following weeks of public pressure to testify, “repeatedly raised legal and other concerns about President Trump’s activities” leading up to and on the day of the riot, citing recent testimony.
Cipollone, who was Trump’s top White House lawyer, is said to have repeatedly raised concerns about the former president’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and at one point threatened to resign.
The committee said he could have information about several of efforts by Trump allies to subvert the Electoral College, from organizing so-called “alternate electors” in states Biden won to trying to appoint a loyalist who pushed false theories of voter fraud as attorney general.
One witness said Cipollone referred to a proposed letter making false claims about voter fraud as a “murder-suicide pact.” Another witness said Cipollone had warned her that Trump was at risk of committing “every crime imaginable.”
The panel issued its subpoena one day after hearing explosive testimony from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who provided new details about Trump’s behavior on Jan. 6, 2021, when thousands of his supporters marched on the U.S. Capitol and broke inside to disrupt the certification of his loss to President Joe Biden.
During Hutchinson’s testimony, she recalled how then-President Donald Trump was determined to join his supporters at the Capitol after his speech on Jan. 6 in which he called for those in attendance to march down the National Mall in protest of the certification of the election.
But White House counsel Pat Cipollone was adamant Trump should not visit the Capitol, Cassidy Hutchinson testified Tuesday.
According to Hutchinson, Cipollone told her on Jan. 3, 2021: “We need to make sure that this doesn’t happen. This would be legally a terrible idea for us. We have serious legal concerns if we go up to the Capitol that day.”
Cipollone urged Hutchinson to relay his concerns to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, her boss, she testified.
On the morning of Jan. 6, Cipollone approached Hutchinson again and told her to make sure Trump did not go to the Capitol.
“Mr. Cipollone said something to the effect of, please, make sure we don’t go up to the Capitol, Cassidy,” she said Tuesday. “Keep in touch with me. We’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen.”
Hutchinson said Cipollone was concerned that it would look like Trump was inciting a riot and obstructing Congress as it met to vote on certifying the election.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
