{"id":2548166,"date":"2026-01-22T17:46:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T22:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jack-smith-dodges-questions-on-cassidy-hutchinson-witness-credibility\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T17:47:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T22:47:37","slug":"jack-smith-dodges-questions-on-cassidy-hutchinson-witness-credibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jack-smith-dodges-questions-on-cassidy-hutchinson-witness-credibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Smith dodges questions on Cassidy Hutchinson witness credibility"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjack-smith-dodges-questions-on-cassidy-hutchinson-witness-credibility%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2548166&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>During nearly five hours of testimony before the House Judiciary committee, former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sidney-powell-is-an-american-legal-giant\/\" title=\"Sidney Powell Is an American Legal Giant\">special counsel<\/a> Jack Smith repeatedly avoided directly answering questions about the credibility of Jan. 6 witness Cassidy Hutchinson. chairman Jim Jordan pressed Smith over Hutchinson&#8217;s widely publicized claim that former President donald trump lunged for a Secret Service vehicle&#8217;s steering wheel, noting firsthand witnesses denied the incident. Smith reiterated his prior deposition statement that Hutchinson&#8217;s account was secondhand hearsay, acknowledged prosecutors interviewed another passenger who did not confirm the episode, and said he had made no final determinations about witness reliability. republicans argued the exchange highlighted that the Democrat-led Jan. 6 committee had amplified dramatic but unverified testimony,while Smith emphasized his office conducted an independent inquiry. The steering-wheel allegation, cited extensively in the committee&#8217;s report, remains contested and was viewed privately by some prosecutors as a weak trial witness claim.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Jack Smith dodges questions on Cassidy Hutchinson witness credibility<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2481123\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Former special counsel <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4428759\/jack-smith-testify-publicly-trump-investigations\/\">Jack Smith<\/a> repeatedly sidestepped pointed questions about the credibility of January 6 committee witness <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2966397\/cassidy-hutchinsons-corrected-testimony-on-trump-jan-6-released\/\">Cassidy Hutchinson<\/a>, despite previously acknowledging her most explosive claims amounted to secondhand hearsay.<\/p>\n<p>The issue surfaced during an exchange with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) during Smith&rsquo;s nearly five hours of public testimony. Jordan pressed Smith over the former White House assistant&rsquo;s prime-time testimony before the Democrat-led Jan. 6 committee, alleging President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;q=Donald+Trump+site%3Awashingtonexaminer.com&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8\">Donald Trump<\/a> lunged for the steering wheel of his Secret Service vehicle on Jan. 6, 2021.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/4429503\/nypd-commissioner-demands-hospital-retrain-staff-withheld-treatment-police\/\">NYPD commissioner demands hospital retrain staff who withheld treatment from police officers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4429348\/house-tucks-repeal-500k-senate-arctic-frost-benefit-in-government-funding-bill\/\">House tucks repeal of $500,000 Senate &#8216;Arctic Frost&#8217; benefit in government funding bill<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4429020\/doj-arrests-nekima-levy-armstrong-suspect-minnesota-church-storming\/\">DOJ arrests Nekima Levy Armstrong and two others in Minnesota church storming<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4423950\/what-is-europe-trade-bazooka-anti-coercion-instrument-trump-greenland-threats\/\">WHAT IS EUROPE&rsquo;S &lsquo;TRADE BAZOOKA&rsquo; BEING FLOATED AS AN ANSWER TO TRUMP&rsquo;S GREENLAND THREATS?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is a pretty masterful 5 minutes from Rep. Jim Jordan.<\/p>\n<p>He uses disgraced and discredited testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson to demonstrate how the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >truth simply didn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t matter to Jack Smith and the J6 Committee.<\/p>\n<p>They wanted to GET TRUMP at all costs. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5IBjqxKZAE\">pic.twitter.com\/5IBjqxKZAE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndrewKolvet\/status\/2014382044865036731?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>    <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Do you think she was lying?&rdquo; Jordan asked, referring to Hutchinson&rsquo;s account, which became one of the most widely-circulated moments of the Democrat-led January 6 select committee hearings.<\/p>\n<p>Smith responded by reiterating what he had previously stated in a closed-door deposition, that Hutchinson did not witness the alleged incident firsthand. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;My recollection of her testimony about that is that it was secondhand,&rdquo; Smith said, noting she claimed to have heard the story from someone else.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/4424445\/trump-board-of-peace-gaza-countries-invited\/\">WHO WAS INVITED TO BE ON TRUMP&rsquo;S &lsquo;BOARD OF PEACE&rsquo;?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith testifies before the House Judiciary Committee about his investigations into President Donald Trump, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026 at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Jordan followed up by naming two firsthand witnesses &mdash; former White House deputy chief of staff for operations Tony Ornato and Secret Service agent Bobby Engel &mdash; both of whom publicly denied the incident occurred. Jordan asked Smith directly whether his team ever confirmed Hutchinson&rsquo;s version of events.<\/p>\n<p>Smith acknowledged that prosecutors interviewed another witness who was in the vehicle and &ldquo;did not confirm that that happened,&rdquo; but declined to give a yes-or-no answer on whether the claim had been substantiated.<\/p>\n<p>The exchange grew sharper when Jordan cited <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/2025-12\/Smith-Depo-Transcript_Redacted-w-Errata.pdf\">Smith&rsquo;s own December deposition testimony<\/a>, in which the former special counsel said Hutchinson&rsquo;s allegations would likely be inadmissible at trial because they were hearsay. Smith <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/daily-memo\/4408364\/jack-smith-reveals-january-6-committee-charade\/\">confirmed under questioning<\/a> that he had said a defense attorney would seek to preclude her testimony on that basis.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/in_focus\/4422310\/in-world-of-doomscrolling-accurate-headlines-more-crucial-than-ever\/\">JOE CONCHA: IN A WORLD OF DOOMSCROLLING, ACCURATE HEADLINES ARE MORE CRUCIAL THAN EVER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Jordan also referenced reporting by <em>Washington Post<\/em> journalists Carol Leonnig and Aaron Davis, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/2025\/11\/04\/trump-investigations-book-leonnig-davis-injustice\/\">who wrote<\/a> that Smith ultimately agreed with prosecutors on his team that Hutchinson would be a weak trial witness after Trump administration officials uniformly disputed her claims under oath. Smith responded that he had made no &ldquo;final determinations&rdquo; about potential witnesses.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, arrives to testify as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. | (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The hearing underscored a central Republican critique of the Jan. 6 investigation led by Democrats in 2022: that they elevated dramatic but unverified testimony in a made-for-television setting while prosecutors privately questioned the credibility of witness claims.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/live-blog\/live-updates-jack-smith-testimony-trump-criminal-investigations\/\">JACK SMITH TESTIFIES BEFORE HOUSE PANEL ON TRUMP INVESTIGATIONS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hutchinson&rsquo;s steering-wheel allegation was cited 185 times in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/liz-cheney-accused-of-unethical-behavior-surrounding-jan-6-committee-after-new-text-messages-surface\/\" title=\"Liz Cheney Accused of Unethical Behavior Surrounding .... ... After New Text Messages Surface\">select committee&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s final report, despite denials from firsthand witnesses and Smith&rsquo;s own acknowledgment that it was second-hand information that he deemed &ldquo;hearsay&rdquo; during his deposition.<\/p>\n<p>Smith repeatedly emphasized that his office conducted an independent investigation, but his refusal to acknowledge Hutchinson&rsquo;s credibility problem directly left GOP lawmakers arguing that the episode revealed the partisan nature of Smith&rsquo;s investigations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Smith dodges Hutchinson credibility questions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2548167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/jack-smith-jim-jordan-cassidy-hutchinson-collage-e1769099014266.jpg?1769081010&amp;w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[49157,32463,32482,8676,71710],"class_list":["post-2548166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cassidy-hutchinson","tag-jack-smith","tag-special-counsel","tag-testimony","tag-witness-credibility"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/jack-smith-jim-jordan-cassidy-hutchinson-collage-e1769099014266.jpg?1769081010&amp;w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2548166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2548166"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2548166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2548170,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2548166\/revisions\/2548170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2548167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2548166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2548166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2548166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}