Sources tell Politico that Matthew Pottinger, who resigned as Trump’s deputy national security advisor on Jan. 6, 2021, is scheduled to speak at the House select committee’s prime time hearing Thursday regarding that day.
Live witnesses include Mr. Pottinger, who was at the White House throughout the day of the melee and is likely to testify about how long Mr. Trump watched the violence develop without doing anything to stop it, even as his supporters threatened Vice President Mike Pence.
They’re expected to help tell the story of what happened in the West Wing during that time, along with Sarah Matthews, a former White House deputy press secretary who resigned on Jan. 6. The hearing is meant to be the culmination of a series of public sessions in which the committee has detailed Mr. Trump’s attempts to stay on as president despite his defeat and how they led to the storming of the Capitol building.
An narrative of how Mr. Trump refused several calls to stop the assault from his staff, attorneys, and even his own family is anticipated during the hearing, which is set to begin at 8 p.m.
Pottinger was unavailable for comment. No comments were returned to us from either Mrs. Matthews or a representative of the committee. CNN has already reported on their upcoming visits.
People familiar with the preparations said that Ms. Matthews is anticipated to discuss the attempts to get Mr. Trump to make a statement, among other things.
A filmed interview with the committee has already been provided by Mr. Pottinger, similar the one given by Ms. Matthews. During the committee’s recent hearings, snippets from each of their interviews were aired.
“Dereliction of duty” by President Trump will be the focus of this session, according to the committee.
After 3pm, Pottinger went to the Oval Office, where Trump was in a small dining room next to the Oval Office, to see what was going on, a source familiar with his interview tells the Washington Post.
Pottinger had received a call from Charles Kupperman, a former Trump White House deputy national security adviser, just moments earlier. Kupperman was passing along information he had received from an intermediary that the mayor of Washington, D.C., was attempting to contact the White House to request the deployment of the National Guard.
Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff, was notified by Pottinger that a former colleague indicated the National Guard had not yet arrived at the Capitol, but he did not see Trump.
As Mr. Pottinger told the committee, Mr. Meadows answered that he had made many phone calls to a high Pentagon official in an effort to get the National Guard brought to Capitol Hill, according to the person familiar with his testimony.
In the wake of Trump’s assault on Pence in a tweet, Pottinger abruptly quit. He told the committee that his resignation was due to Trump’s remark. In order to complete a certain task before departing, Mr. Pottinger remained up late into the night.
A third source with knowledge of the planning said that video of Pat A. Cipollone, a former White House attorney, is also planned to be used to narrate the day.
