In a surprising turn of events regarding the House Select Committee's Jan. 6 hearings, ex-White House lawyer Pat Cipollone agrees to talk to the panel behind closed doors that could unveil key Donald Trump insights about the Capitol Hill riot.
The deal will have the lawyer testify in a transcribed interview with the committee on Friday and will be videotaped. Last week, the panel issued a subpoena to Cipollone after talks to have him testify ended in failure.
Pat Cipollone's Testimony
He is one of the few aides with former President Trump on the day of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill insurrection. Furthermore, Cipollone is believed to have significant insight into events before, leading up to, and after the chaotic riot.
The House Select Committee has frequently referenced Cipollone during its public hearings, with members of the panel saying that he was one of the advisers around Trump, constantly telling the Republican businessman that he was concerned Trump's action could put him in legal jeopardy, as per ABC News.
The lawyer is not expected to fight the panel's subpoena as discussions between him and investigators were cordial. After the order was issued last week, a lawyer familiar with Cipollone's deliberations said that the subpoena was necessary before he could testify before the committee.
There have been talks that among the topics for testimony about which Cipollone and the committee had been negotiating are: the actions taken by the former top Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark to use the powers of the DOJ to attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential elections and what Cipollone did the day of the Jan. 6 riot, among others.
According to CNN, the committee's subpoena letter noted that it had obtained evidence that Cipollone is "uniquely positioned to testify" but noted that he had "declined to cooperate" past that interview. This left the panel with no choice but to issue the subpoena to get the lawyer to talk.
Trump's Role in the Capitol Riot
The chairman of the House Select Committee, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, along with vice chairwoman Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, said after the issuance of the subpoena, evidence showed the Cipollone repeatedly raised legal and other concerns about former President Trump's activities on Jan. 6, 2021.
A California Democrat, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who is also a member of the panel, previously said that the committee was willing to work through privilege issues with Cipollone to get his testimony. He argued that there were "quite a few things that he could tell the committee that would not be subject to privilege.
The situation comes after former aide Cassidy Hutchinson gave an explosive testimony detailing Trump's activities and discussions with allies before, during, and after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot. In her testimony, she also portrayed Cipollone as one of the last firewalls blocking Trump's efforts to overturn the elections.
Hutchinson testified that on the morning of the insurrection, the lawyer came to her with an urgent request, saying something along the lines of asking her to make sure they do not go up to the Capitol, the Boston Globe reported.
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