Secret Service spokesman discusses Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony in Jan. 6 committee interview

The top spokesperson for the Secret Service testified Monday before the House panel investigating the Capitol riot and discussed the bombshell testimony over the summer from Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

Anthony Guglielmi’s testimony, first reported by The Washington Post, touched on statements he made on behalf of the agency after Hutchinson testified publicly before the House Jan. 6 committee, the sources said.

NBC News has asked Guglielmi and the Jan. 6 committee for comment.

Hutchinson testified under oath that on Jan. 6, 2021, President Donald Trump tried to grab the steering wheel inside an armored SUV and lunged toward his security detail when he learned that he would not be taken to the Capitol, where a mob of his supporters was gathering.

Hutchinson said Tony Ornato, the White House deputy chief of staff for operations, told her about the incident. She also said Bobby Engel, who led Trump’s security detail, had not disputed Ornato’s account. Hutchinson’s account quickly came under scrutiny after sources said two witnesses were prepared to testify under oath that the incident never happened.

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Ornato, who left the agency in August for a job in the private sector, was the deputy chief of staff for operations as political appointee at the time of the Jan. 6 riot.

A person close to the Secret Service said after Hutchinson’s testimony that the alleged altercation had not occurred and suggested that Engel and the driver would say so under oath. Guglielmi said at the time that the agency was “cooperating fully” and that any and all personnel requested by the Jan. 6 committee were available to testify under oath.

The Jan. 6 committee last held a public hearing in October. The panel is expected to continue its work beyond the Nov. 8 elections. If Republicans win the House next week, it is unlikely that the committee’s investigation would extend beyond early January, when the new Congress is sworn in.