Former Special Counsel Jack Smith acknowledged under oath this week that Cassidy Hutchinson, a “star” witness in the January 6 Committee hearings, relied heavily on secondhand and thirdhand information for her dramatic testimony about President Donald Trump.
Smith appeared for an eight-hour closed-door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee earlier this week.
The session focused on his prosecutorial decisions and case management during his time as the Biden administration’s appointed special counsel investigating Trump.
The deposition transcript was released to the public on December 31, 2025.
It provides new details about how Smith’s team evaluated witness credibility and evidence during the investigation.
Hutchinson gained national attention during the January 6 Committee hearings with several striking allegations about Trump’s behavior.
Her most publicized claim involved an alleged incident inside a Secret Service vehicle.
According to her testimony, Trump became enraged when told he could not go to the Capitol after his speech at the Ellipse.
She claimed he attempted to seize control of the vehicle’s steering wheel from Secret Service agents.
Secret Service personnel who were present have repeatedly disputed this account.
Despite their denials, the story continues to circulate in certain political and media circles.
During his deposition, Smith candidly assessed the evidentiary value of Hutchinson’s testimony.
He explained that his prosecution team recognized significant limitations in what she could offer as a witness, according to Fox News reporting.
“If I were a defense attorney and Ms. Hutchinson were a witness, the first thing I would do was seek to preclude some of her testimony because it was hearsay, and I don’t have the full range of her testimony in front of me right now, but I do remember that that was a decent part of it,” Smith stated.
The former special counsel elaborated on why hearsay testimony poses problems in criminal proceedings.
He noted that much of what Hutchinson presented came from conversations with other people rather than her own direct observations.
“A number of the things that she gave evidence on were secondhand hearsay, were things that she had heard from other people and, as a result, that testimony may or may not be admissible, and it certainly wouldn’t be as powerful as firsthand testimony,” Smith explained.
Smith revealed that his office conducted its own investigation into the steering wheel incident.
Prosecutors interviewed the Secret Service officer who was actually present in the presidential vehicle that day.
That officer provided a substantially different version of events.
Smith confirmed the agent acknowledged Trump expressed anger and wanted to proceed to the Capitol. However, Smith stated that “the version of events that he explained was not the same as what Cassidy Hutchinson said she heard from somebody secondhand.”
This firsthand account directly contradicted the narrative Hutchinson presented to the January 6 Committee.
The deposition also covered Hutchinson’s claims about Trump’s knowledge regarding armed individuals at the rally.
Smith indicated that interviews with other witnesses produced accounts that diverged from Hutchinson’s version.
Smith characterized Hutchinson as “a second or even thirdhand witness” when describing the limitations of her testimony.
