CNN previously reported that Matthews, who served as deputy press secretary in the Trump White House until resigning shortly after January 6, 2021, was expected to testify publicly. When she resigned, Matthews said she was honored to serve in Trump’s administration but “was deeply disturbed by what I saw.” She said at the time, “Our nation needs a peaceful transfer of power.”
The committee’s vice chairwoman, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, described Pottinger like this during one of the committee’s previous hearings: “A former Marine intelligence officer who served in the White House for four years, including — including as deputy national security adviser, was in the vicinity of the Oval Office at various points throughout the day.”
The committee played a video clip from Pottinger’s interview in which he described the moment he knew it was the moment to resign.
“One of my staff brought me a printout of a tweet by the President, and the tweet said something to the effect that Mike Pence, the vice president, didn’t have the courage to do what he — what should have been done. I — I read that tweet and made a decision at that moment to resign. That’s where I knew that I was leaving that day once I read that tweet.”
A spokesperson for the committee declined to comment. A spokesperson for Pottinger did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
The public has now heard live testimony from more than a dozen witnesses and seen clips from the recorded depositions of more than 40 others, including members of the Trump family, former administration officials, GOP officials from key battleground states, and members of the former President’s legal team.
Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia, who will be leading Thursday’s hearing with GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, told CNN the committee will “go through pretty much minute by minute” the then-President’s actions.
“He was doing nothing to actually stop the riot,” the Virginia Democrat told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”
This headline and story have been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Jamie Gangel contributed to this report.