During an appearance on The Katie Phang Show on MSNBC, Donald Trump’s niece Mary Trump said her uncle is likely “terrified” after former White House counsel Pat Cipollone spent eight hours talking to the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot.
Mr Cipollone is said not to have contradicted any of the previous testimony provided to the committee, while also giving them new information, according to panel member Rep Zoe Lofgren.
The former White House official became a central part of the investigation after he reportedly warned former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson that Mr Trump would be charged with “every crime imaginable” if the defeated president went to the Capitol on 6 January 2021, trying to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election.
It was not clear to what extent Mr Cipollone might cooperate with the committee, but the amount of time he spent with them — almost the entire day – has raised speculation as to what he may have said.
“What do you think is going through his mind right now?” Phang asked Mr Trump’s niece of her uncle on Saturday. “There is an even larger amount of damning testimony that is coming out. Notably, he did not attack Pat Cipollone before he testified before the committee.”
“To say that Donald is terrified is accurate, it is also an understatement,” replied Ms Trump.
“I think this might be the first time in his entire life that even he can’t deny the walls that are closing in. The amount of evidence that we see coming out of these committee hearings is overwhelming,” she added.
The former president’s niece, a psychologist and author, noted that as more witnesses emerge they tend to be closer to him in terms of their level of access at the White House.
“Even more troubling for him is the witnesses coming forward,” Ms Trump said. “They are increasingly important in terms of access and their position in his administration. It is not at all surprising that he would pull his punches when it comes to Pat Cipollone.”
Mr Cipollone was a highly sought-after witness by the committee, especially after Ms Hutchinson’s bombshell testimony that he tried to prevent Donald Trump from challenging the 2020 election results and worked to stop the defeated president from joining the violent mob that laid siege to the Capitol.
Two more of the committee’s public hearings are scheduled for this upcoming week, on Tuesday 12 July at 10am, and on Thursday, potentially during primetime, though this has not yet been confirmed.
