Jan. 6 hearing highlights: Cassidy Hutchinson gives explosive testimony about the Trump White House

In a statement via her lawyers Jody Hunt and William Jordan, Hutchinson said she was "justifiably proud" of her service in the Trump White House but felt it was her "duty and responsibility" to testify Tuesday.

"Ms. Hutchinson is justifiably proud of her service to the country as a Special Assistant to the President," the statement said. "While she did not seek out the attention accompanying her testimony today, she believes that it was her duty and responsibility to provide the Committee with her truthful and candid observations of the events surrounding January 6. Ms. Hutchinson believes that January 6 was a horrific day for the country, and it is vital to the future of our democracy that it not be repeated."

Democratic lawmakers responded to Hutchinson's testimony Tuesday, with some calling on the Justice Department to hold former President Donald Trump accountable.

"Trump did not care who was in harm’s way or even if people died. He only cared about himself and clinging to power," Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., tweeted. "Mr. Trump and all those involved must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., called on the agency to hold Trump "accountable to the fullest extent of the law" in a tweet Tuesday afternoon.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., also suggested in a tweet that "Trump, Meadows, and their co-conspirators must be held accountable for trying to overthrow democracy."

In an accompanying video statement he recorded after leaving the hearing, Gallego said: "We need some action now. We need Merrick Garland and the DOJ to show that they're actually holding people accountable."

"President Trump needs to be indicted as well as Mark Meadows," Gallego said.

Two of the key figures mentioned in Tuesday's hearing had previously interviewed with the Jan. 6 committee.

Tony Ornato, the White House deputy chief of staff for operations under Trump, testified behind closed doors to the select committee, per an aide.

Bobby Engel, then the head of Trump's security detail, has also sat for an interview before the committee.

Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., retweeted a post from Washington, D.C., Officer Daniel Hodges, who wrote, "Donald Trump set me, my colleagues, Congress and the Vice President up." Hodges was crushed in a doorway while guarding the U.S. Capitol's West Front on Jan. 6.

Hodges was in the hearing room Tuesday.

Speaking to NBC News, he reiterated his tweet and said that "so much of what I hear in these hearings isn’t really shocking because Donald Trump revealed his character a long time before Jan. 6, a long time before he was ever president." He said he was looking forward to future hearings and hopes "the truth keeps coming … and that the Justice Department is listening."

U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell said after Tuesday's Jan. 6 hearing that he was just informed he will "never be back in uniform" due to injuries he sustained during the Capitol riot.

"I just found out today that I will never be in full uniform because of that horrific day. I just feel betrayed," Gonell told reporters after attending the Jan. 6 committee's sixth hearing.

Trump "should have been doing everything possible to help us, and he didn't do it. He wanted to lead the mob. He wanted to lead the crowd himself, pretending to be George Washington," Gonell continued.

"They were hurting myself and my fellow officers. ... I'm in the process of finding out today that because of the injuries I sustained that day, I won't be back in uniform. And that's something that is on him, on those people who continue to deny what happened that horrific day," he said.

Gonell, an Army veteran who served in the Iraq War, was seated at the hearing alongside other police officers injured in the attack, as well as Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Olivia Troye, a former aide to Mike Pence.

After testifying for nearly two hours, Hutchinson stepped down and was warmly met by some of Jan. 6 committee members, who had lined up to embrace her.

Cheney hugged Hutchinson, while Thompson and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., shook hands with her. Hutchinson could also be seen speaking briefly with Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va.

Trump lashed out at Cassidy Hutchinson and the Jan. 6 committee Tuesday during and after the hearing in posts on his social media site.

"I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, other than I heard very negative things about her (a total phony and 'leaker')," Trump posted on Truth Social. The former president alleged that Hutchinson wanted to go to Florida with his team after his term ended but that he "personally turned her request down. Why did she want to go with us if she felt we were so terrible?"

Trump denied Hutchinson's testimony that he asked the Secret Service to take down the metal detectors to allow more members of the crowd, some of whom were armed, to get close to watch his speech and make the audience look larger.

"Who would ever want that? Not me! Besides, there were no guns found or brought into the Capitol Building...So where were all of these guns?" Trump wrote.

Trump also denied what he described as a "fake story" by Hutchinson that he grabbed the steering wheel of his motorcade's vehicle when Secret Service made it clear he couldn't go to the Capitol on Jan. 6.

"Her Fake story that I tried to grab the steering wheel of the White House Limousine in order to steer it to the Capitol Building is 'sick' and fraudulent, very much like the Unselect Committee itself — Wouldn’t even have been possible to do such a ridiculous thing. Her story of me throwing food is also false…and why would SHE have to clean it up, I hardly knew who she was?" he said.

Sarah Matthews, who served as deputy press secretary under Trump, tweeted during the hearing, "Anyone downplaying Cassidy Hutchinson’s role or her access in the West Wing either doesn’t understand how the Trump WH worked or is attempting to discredit her because they’re scared of how damning this testimony is."

Alyssa Farah Griffin, another White House staffer who previously worked for Meadows, called Hutchinson a "friend" in a tweet and said that "anyone who would try to impugn her character" should contact the Jan. 6 committee and appear "UNDER OATH."

"I knew her testimony would be damning. I had no idea it’d be THIS damning," Farah Griffin tweeted. "I am so grateful for her courage & integrity."

Closing the hearing Tuesday, Cheney said that at least two unnamed committee witnesses had been contacted by people in Trump's orbit and reminded that the former president is watching and reading. Cheney did not identify the senders or the recipients of the messages.

“What they said to me is, as long as I continue to be a team player, they know that I’m on the team, I’m doing the right thing, I’m protecting who I need to protect, you know, I’ll continue to stay in good graces in Trump World,” Cheney quoted one unnamed witness as saying. “And they have reminded me a couple of times that Trump does read transcripts and just to keep that in mind as I proceeded through my depositions and interviews with the committee.” 

Cheney then quoted from a message she said was received by a second unnamed witness from someone in Trump World: “[A person] let me know you have your deposition tomorrow. He wants me to let you know that he’s thinking about you. He knows you’re loyal, and you’re going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition.”

Cheney said the committee was carefully considering its next steps. "I think most Americans know that attempting to influence witnesses to testify untruthfully presents very serious concerns," she said.