Politics
Jack Smith Admits The Truth About ‘Star’ Jan 6 Committee Witness
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith — the Biden-led Justice Department’s handpicked prosecutor who handled cases against President Donald Trump — admitted during a deposition earlier this week that a key January 6 Committee witness lacked the knowledge to make her highly publicized claims true.
In one of the most high-profile moments from the Hollywood-produced January 6 hearings, former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson made a number of bizarre claims against her former boss. According to her testimony, President Trump attempted to “grab the wheel” of a Secret Service vehicle and head to the Capitol when unrest erupted following the day’s protests.
This claim has been thoroughly debunked by Secret Service agents but is often repeated in left-wing political and media circles.
Earlier this week, Smith sat for a closed-door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee. The eight-hour session was part of the committee’s oversight into his prosecutorial decisions and the handling of these cases.
A transcript of the deposition was made public on December 31, 2025, offering insights into how Smith evaluated evidence and witnesses during his probe.
A key focus of the questioning involved Hutchinson’s 2022 testimony, which included accounts of interactions within the Trump administration on that day. Smith explained that his team assessed her statements as part of building the election interference case but ultimately determined they had limitations due to their reliance on indirect information.
Smith characterized much of Hutchinson’s testimony as secondhand or thirdhand hearsay, meaning it was based on what others had told her rather than her direct observations. He stated that this made her accounts less reliable for courtroom use.
“If I were a defense attorney and Ms. Hutchinson were a witness, the first thing I would do was seek to preclude some of her testimony because it was hearsay, and I don’t have the full range of her testimony in front of me right now, but I do remember that that was a decent part of it,” the former special counsel said plainly.
He further elaborated that “a number of the things that she gave evidence on were secondhand hearsay, were things that she had heard from other people and, as a result, that testimony may or may not be admissible, and it certainly wouldn’t be as powerful as firsthand testimony.”
Hutchinson testified that Trump “grabbed the steering wheel” of a moving vehicle and attempted to turn around on January 6, a claim that has been disputed by numerous Secret Service agents
One example Smith discussed was Hutchinson’s claim about an incident in the presidential vehicle, known as “the Beast,” following Trump’s speech at the Ellipse rally on January 6. Hutchinson had testified that Trump, upon learning he would not be taken to the Capitol, became agitated and attempted to grab the steering wheel from the driver.
She recounted that the president “said something to the effect of, ‘I’m the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now,’ to which [the agent] responded, ‘Sir, we have to go back to the West Wing.’ The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel.”
Smith noted that his office interviewed the Secret Service officer present in the vehicle, who provided a differing account. According to Smith, the officer confirmed that “President Trump was very angry and wanted to go to the Capitol, but the version of events that he explained was not the same as what Cassidy Hutchinson said she heard from somebody secondhand.”
Smith also addressed Hutchinson’s assertion that Trump was informed some supporters at the rally were armed. He indicated that interviews with other witnesses, including those Hutchinson referenced, revealed “different perspectives” on the events.
He later emphasized that Hutchinson herself was “a second or even thirdhand witness,” which reduced the evidentiary weight of her statements.
House Republicans earlier this year moved to form their own January 6 Committee, which is expected to interview Hutchinson.
