A former lawyer for former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson told her to "downplay" her knowledge of events leading to the US Capitol riot, telling her "the less you remember, the better," according to a released transcript of her testimony.
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Lawyer Stefan Passantino advised Hutchinson in preparing for a February deposition before the US House of Representatives committee probing the Capitol attack to say she could not recall certain events, she told the committee in September.
Hutchinson testified that Passantino, a former White House ethics lawyer under former US president Donald Trump, never directed her to lie to the committee but urged her not to try to refresh her memory and volunteer information about key events.
"The less the committee thinks you know, the better," Hutchinson recalled Passantino telling her, the transcript released on Thursday by the committee showed.
Passantino did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He told CNN earlier this week that he represented Hutchinson "honourably, ethically, and fully consistent with her sole interests as she communicated them to me".
The January 6 panel is scheduled to release a final report detailing its findings later on Thursday.
Hutchinson, who worked as a top aide to then White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, later switched lawyers and became a star witness for the committee. She detailed at a public hearing in June that Trump knew many of his supporters were carrying weapons on the morning of January 6, 2021.
The September interview was conducted after Hutchinson agreed to waive attorney-client confidentiality to discuss her legal team. She is now represented by law firm Alston & Bird.
Her current legal team did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Australian Associated Press
