What Pat Cipollone May Tell the Jan. 6 Committee About Trump

Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone has agreed to be interviewed by the January 6 committee by Friday in what has come as a breakthrough for the panel.

Cipollone, who repeatedly fought former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, reached a deal with the committee on Wednesday after being issued a subpoena last week. He will reportedly sit for a videotaped, transcribed interview, but he is not expected to testify publicly.

"Our committee is certain that Donald Trump does not want Mr. Cipollone to testify here," committee vice chair Representative Liz Cheney said last week. "We think the American people deserve to hear from Mr. Cipollone personally."

Under the subpoena, the committee is set to ask Cipollone to provide information about Trump's "awareness and involvement" in the efforts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 election—"including the submission of fake electoral ballots to Congress and the executive branch"—and the attempted appointment of Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general.

"Our investigation has revealed credible evidence that you have information concerning these and other issues within the scope of the Select Committee's inquiry," committee chairman Bennie Thompson wrote to Cipollone.

The push to hear from Cipollone was heightened after last week's hearing, when former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson detailed conversations with Cipollone in her testimony.

Committee members are hoping the lawyer's interview will bolster Hutchinson's account, which Trump has casted doubt over, and provide additional information about the former president's behavior in the West Wing the day of the Capitol riot.

Cipollone appeared before the panel earlier this year, albeit for informal interviews on a limited set of topics.

However, the April agreement reached between Cipollone, Trump and the panel has offered a preview into what Cipollone could tell committee members on the record.

According to The New York Times, which obtained a copy of the agreement, he was allowed to discuss:

• a meeting with Jeffrey Clark, the Department of Justice official who allegedly tried to help Trump's efforts to overturn the election
• Trump's interactions with John Eastman, the lawyer who reportedly told Vice President Mike Pence he had the authority to block the certification of President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory
• any interactions he had with members of Congress
• his own recollection of events on January 6, 2021, including a timeline of who he met with and where he was.

Aside from the January 3, 2021, meeting with Clark, Cipollone was not allowed to discuss any conversations he or others had with Trump.

During last week's hearing, Hutchinson testified to the panel that she recalled Cipollone telling her, "Please make sure we don't go up to the Capitol, Cassidy. Keep in touch with me. We're going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen."

Cipollone also urged former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to do more to convince Trump to call off his supporters at the Capitol, according to Hutchinson.