World News | Trump White House adviser Cipollone meets Jan. 6 panel

WASHINGTON, July 8 (AP) Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone arrived on Capitol Hill Friday for a private interview with the committee on Jan. 6 about his efforts to prevent then-President Donald Trump from challenging 2020 Presidential Election and join the violent mob in the siege of the Capitol.

Cipollone has been a popular witness after bombshell testimony revealed his apparent desperation and last-ditch effort to stop Trump’s actions.

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The panel was told that if he went to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to stop Joe Biden’s electoral certification, it warned the defeated president would be charged with “every crime imaginable.” He was called to testify.

But the conservative lawyer, once a staunch presidential confidant who defended Trump during his first impeachment trial, has been reluctant to formally appear in court for a public interview. Like other former White House officials, he can claim that his advice to the Republican president is privileged information he is reluctant to share.

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Cipollone “has a unique ability to testify,” the panel said in a letter accompanying the subpoena issued last week.

“Mr. Cipollone has repeatedly raised legal and other concerns about President Trump’s activities on January 6 and in the days preceding,” Democratic Assemblyman Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement.

“While the select committee appreciates Mr. Cipollone’s earlier informal involvement in our investigation, the committee needs to hear his record, as other former White House counsel has done in other congressional investigations.”

Cipollone’s central role came into focus at a surprise committee hearing last week after former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson described his repeated efforts to keep Trump from joining the Capitol mob.

Hutchinson said Cipollone urged her to persuade her boss, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, not to let Trump go to the Capitol.

Hutchinson testified that when his security team finally prevented him from going to the Capitol that day, she was told Trump was angry. When she said Trump lashed out at the driver in the presidential motorcade, the Secret Service disputed some of her accounts detailing Trump’s behavior.

Cipollone also participated in a key meeting on Sunday before the Jan. 6 attack, in which White House Justice Department officials threatened to pursue his false accusations of voter fraud if Trump went ahead with plans to appoint a new acting attorney general , he will resign.

Cipollone and his attorney Michael Purpura, who also worked in the Trump White House, did not respond to requests for comment. (Associated Press)

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