June 28, 2022

“We’re Going to Get Charges of Every Crime Imaginable,” Trump’s Top White House Lawyer Warned

Pat Cipollone cautioned against Trump going to the Capitol with the rioters on January 6, according to new bombshell testimony.

Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testifies before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.Andrew Harnik - Pool Via Cnp/CNP via ZUMA

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Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, delivered multiple bombshell revelations during her testimony before the January 6 committee on Tuesday—including evidence of potential criminal liability for President Donald Trump. 

One important detail Hutchinson relayed came from White House Counsel Pat Cipollone. According to Hutchinson, Trump wanted to go to the Capitol on January 6 with rally attendees and planned to do so for days. After his speech at the Save America Rally, he went so far as to try to seize the wheel of his car from a Secret Service agent to direct the car toward the Capitol, Hutchinson testified.

This persistence came against the warnings of Cipollone. Hutchinson testified that Cipollone pulled her aside days before the riot to ask her to help prevent Trump from going to the Capitol. “We’re going to get charges of every crime imaginable if we make that move,” Hutchinson recalled him saying at the time.

Hutchinson also recalled that Cipollone was worried about criminal charges related to obstruction of justice and interference with the electoral count.

Did Cipollone tell the president that? When Trump tried multiple times to go to the Capitol on January 6, was Trump aware he was potentially committing a crime? It’s hard to imagine Cipollone warned Hutchinson but did not caution the president directly about his potential criminal liability. 

Cipollone may himself testify publicly before the committee, so the public may soon learn the answer.

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