Matthew Pottinger, Sarah Matthews.Photo: Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock; House Select Committee via AP
Matthew Pottinger and Sarah Matthews will be the latest former Trump White House aides to testify before the House committee investigating theinsurrection at the Capitolwhen they appear during this Thursday’s primetime hearing, multiple outlets report.
Pottinger is a former Marine who served as deputy national security adviser before reportedly stepping down due to the events of Jan. 6.
In a previous hearing, the committee aired footage of an earlier interview with Pottinger, in which he attributed that decision to a tweet Trump sent out ahead of the riots.
Matthews, meanwhile, served as a spokeswoman for Donald Trump’s reelection campaign before going on to work as deputy press secretary in the Trump administration.
Matthews currently serves as communications director for Republicans on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.
In a Twitter thread on the one-year anniversary of the attempted insurrection, Matthews said the former president had “failed to meet the moment” that day, adding that the breaching of the U.S. Capitol had been a “coup attempt” and would have been described as such if it had “happened in any other country.”
“While it might be easier to ignore or whitewash the events of that day for political expediency — if we’re going to be morally consistent — we need to acknowledge these hard truths,” she wrote in the thread.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer.
Pottinger and Matthews' testimonies will come on the heels ofshocking revelationsfrom fellow former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson that Donald Trump was aware his supporters were armed in D.C. on Jan. 6, and thathe lunged at his Secret Service detail in the carin an attempt to reach the Capitol that day.
In the days and weeks following that appearance, Hutchinson has received threats and attacks from anonymous sources disputing some of her testimony, but at least two anonymous Secret Service agents have corroborated it.
According to Republican committee member Rep.Adam Kinzinger, Hutchinson’s decision to speak inspired others to come forward. Speaking toCNN, Kinzinger said: “She’s going to go down in history.”
The hearings,which began on June 9, have each featured new revelations about the events leading up to the attacks and how Trump and his allies responded.
Among the many stunning allegations that came to light in the hearings are thatseveral Republican members of Congress sought a blanket pardonfor their involvement in the former president’s attempts to overturn his defeat.
Thursday’s hearing will be the eighth, though committee members have said there couldbe more to come.
source: people.com
