A lawyer on Twitter hit back at an account closely associated with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) that suggested Tuesday’s crushing testimony before the select House committee investigating the US Capitol riots was “all hearsay.”
The House Judiciary Committee Republican account ― which lists Jordan as a ranking member in its Twitter bio ― labeled the amazing testimonial from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson as hearsay.
“It’s literally all hearsay evidence. What a joke,” said the post on the GOP account about Hutchinson’s testimony about Donald Trump’s last days as president.
Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified on Tuesday that Trump said he “didn’t care” that his supporters had weapons at a “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021. At the conclusion of the rally on the Ellipse, Trump encouraged his supporters to go to the US Capitol to confront Congress.
She also said Trump lunged at a Secret Service agent in the presidential limousine when the agent refused to take Trump to the Capitol and instead insisted that they return to the White House.
Twitter account Popehat, an account for attorney Ken White’s law-focused blog of the same name, disagreed with the GOP account.
“No, man, only part of it is hearsay. Need help to understand the difference?” the account tweeted.
The account went on to give examples of what could and could not be considered rumours.
One example casts a shadow over Jordan before his time as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University, when he was allegedly aware of allegations of student sexual abuse.
Former college wrestlers came forward in 2018 with allegations that a team doctor, Richard Strauss, sexually assaulted athletes and that Jordan spoke to them in the locker room about the abuse. NBC News reported†
A former wrestling team captain also said in a 2020 Ohio Statehouse hearing that Jordan called him to ask if he would make statements that contradict claims that Jordan and other team officials were aware of the abuse. Cleveland.com reported:†
Jordan has repeatedly denied knowledge of the sexual abuse allegations.
The account closed its Twitter thread with a tweet stating that “first-hand testimonials about what Trump said” are not rumours.
Other legal analysts on Twitter also weighed in on the hearsay question.
Attorney Renato Mariotti wrote that the testimony would not be rumours if the Justice Department has presented it to the court in a case against the former president.
You can read most of Popehat’s Twitter thread directed to the House Judiciary Committee GOP account below.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.