Jan 6 Committee to hear live testimony from former Trump aide

The House Committee on January 6 is expected to hear live testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to Mark Meadows, the last chief of staff to Donald Trump, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The committee had previously said it wouldn't hold any more hearings until next month, so there was a sense of urgency to disclose what it said was recently obtained evidence.

It is the sixth public hearing held by the committee after a year-long investigation into the Capitol attack. The session is scheduled for 1 pm on Capitol Hill, the committee announced. Hutchinson's appearance before the committee was first reported by Punchbowl News and later confirmed by other outlets, including the Guardian.

Hutchinson provided the committee with some shocking revelations, including that Trump approved of his supporters chanting Hang Mike Pence and that several far-right members of Congress who tried to stop the congressional certification of Joe Biden's victory seeking pardons after the attack. The videos were played during Hutchinson's testimony to the committee during the hearings.

The hearing came as a surprise after Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson, chair, said last week that the panel would not hold another hearing until July. The committee has merged the tapes with moving public testimony and dramatic speech-making from lawmakers and staff who led the investigation to uncover new evidence that Thompson said the public sessions were the culmination of an attempted coup. At the end of each hearings, members of the panel have directed anyone with information to their tip line and asked those with direct knowledge of the events to come forward and testify publicly.

The committee obtained documentary footage from British film-maker Alex Holder, who was embedded with Trump, his family and inner circle from before the election to after the January 6 attack. The committee is particularly interested in footage he captured involving phone calls and conversations between Trump's children and top aides talking about election strategies on the evening of the first presidential debate on September 29th, 2020, sources told the Guardian.

Holder is cooperating with the committee.

The hearings next month are expected to focus on the role of far-right and military groups organized and prepared for the January 6 attack and Trump's abdication of leadership during the hours-long siege of the Capitol.