(Tony Sifert, Headline USA) From the beginning, the J6 Committee’s prime time hearings have been a partisan witch hunt, à la the infamous Russia hoax, intended to “get Trump” at any cost.
Now that a key witness has been caught telling an apparently fabricated story about President Trump’s violent behavior, however, the committee’s credibility is on suicide watch.
It turns out that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s intrepid squad of hypocritical Democrats and unpopular RINOs failed to do due diligence on former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s absurd second-hand account of President Trump’s alleged attempt to commandeer the presidential limo during the J6 riots, according to a report in Politico.
“I’m the f***ing president, take me up to the Capitol now,” Trump is alleged to have said, as he attempted to wrest control of the vehicle from his Secret Service detail.
OH NO! THEY RELEASED THE TAPE!!!😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/hgI6ITRmZs
— il Donaldo Trumpo (@PapiTrumpo) June 29, 2022
In a few short hours, much to the chagrin of Never Trumpers everywhere, the story totally collapsed.
Tony Ornato and Robert Engel — the Secret Service agents Hutchinson claims were assaulted — denied the report through CNN’s Gabby Orr and NBC’s Peter Alexander.
Tony Ornato is denying that he told Cassidy Hutchinson Trump grabbed the steering wheel in presidential vehicle on 1/6 or lunged at a fellow agent, a USSS official tells @joshscampbell. CNN confirms that Ornato & Enger are prepared to testify that neither incident occurred.
— Gabby Orr (@GabbyOrr_) June 29, 2022
“Tony Ornato is denying that he told Cassidy Hutchinson Trump grabbed the steering wheel in presidential vehicle on 1/6 or lunged at a fellow agent,” Orr wrote on Twitter. “CNN confirms that Ornato & Engel are prepared to testify that neither incident occurred.”
🚨 A source close to the Secret Service tells me both Bobby Engel, the lead agent, and the presidential limousine/SUV driver are prepared to testify under oath that neither man was assaulted and that Mr. Trump never lunged for the steering wheel.
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) June 28, 2022
“A source close to the Secret Service tells me both Bobby Engel, the lead agent, and the presidential limousine/SUV driver are prepared to testify under oath that neither man was assaulted and that Mr. Trump never lunged for the steering wheel,” Alexander confirmed.
Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, told Politico that the Committee never attempted to corroborate Hutchinson’s yarn.
“We were not asked to reappear before the Committee in response to yesterday’s new information and we plan on formally responding on the record,” he wrote in an email to Politico. “We have and will continue to make any member of the Secret Service available.”
The developments brought a strong reaction from Trump.
“Wow! She has now lost all credibility, just like the partisan Witch Hunt perpetuated by the Unselect Committee of political hacks. MAGA!” Trump wrote.
Reaction to today’s January 6th Committee hearing: pic.twitter.com/BKSe1tL16i
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) June 28, 2022
The episode has launched a number of hilarious interviews in which Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., has attempted to defend the credibility of the Democrats’ “star witness,” and that of the Committee as a whole.
In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, a bumbling Raskin admitted that the story was “hearsay” and that he had seen nothing — despite the fact that the J6 Committee has already interviewed Ornato and Engel — to confirm Hutchinson’s account.
“The story that she told is the evidence that I’m aware of,” Raskin told Tapper. “And I have not seen anything to contradict it.”
Raskin didn’t fare any better on MSNBC, where he used some alleged technical difficulties to dodge a question about the J6 Inquisition’s shredded credibility.
Rep. Raskin appears to lose signal on MSNBC when asked about inconsistencies in Hutchinson’s testimony at the J6 Show Trial
MSNBC: You’ve talked to the Secret Service agents in this story, Mr Ornato and Mr. Engel. Did that incident happen in the car?
Jamie Raskin: *disappears* pic.twitter.com/2dCaTaJgML
— LoneStarHerd🇺🇸 (@lonestarherd) June 29, 2022