Learn more about Cassidy Hutchinson, former White House adviser 0:45
(CNN) --
The senior aide to former White House Secretary General Mark Meadows, who testified Tuesday before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots, was a star. young and rapidly rising in the Trump administration.
Cassidy Hutchinson, 26, was a staff aide at the Office of Legislative Affairs before being quickly promoted to special assistant to then-President Donald Trump and adviser to Meadows, before becoming his executive assistant until the end of the Trump administration.
'This is a bombshell': Trump aides gasped at Hutchinson's testimony
Meadows named Hutchinson his legislative aide, and she would accompany him to the Capitol for his most serious meetings.
Hutchinson was with Meadows "all the time," a former White House official said, and another source said she had "very close access to Meadows."
A former White House aide said Hutchinson had a falling out with Meadows in 2021. He was supposed to go to Mar-a-Lago as a permanent staffer, but that never happened.
Cassidy Hutchinson's experience working closely with Meadows will allow the commission to learn more about Meadows' efforts to overturn the election and what happened on the day of the Capitol storming.
A person close to Hutchinson told CNN that she previously testified before the commission for at least 20 hours, detailing her time in key White House meetings as Trump and his allies tried to overturn the election results.
What was the impact of Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony?
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He was an eyewitness to several key episodes leading up to January 6, as well as witnessing some of Trump's real-time reactions that day.
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During interviews conducted by the commission, Cassidy Hutchinson testified that several Republican members of Congress, including Reps. Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Scott Perry, and Louie Gohmert, requested preemptive pardons after Jan. 6.
He also testified that Meadows was warned directly before the insurrection of the potential violence.
Meadows refuses to speak to the House committee.
Before it was confirmed that she would speak before the commission, CNN previously reported that Cassidy Hutchinson stood in for her attorney, who had close ties to Trump, in preparation for her testimony.
CNN also reported that Hutchinson has become increasingly aware of the security risk that she poses by speaking in front of the commission and that she has been on alert.
Trump says he barely knows Hutchinson
Trump, as he is wont to do with advisers and allies who were once close but then turned against him, claimed Tuesday that he "barely knows" Hutchinson and has personally turned down a request she made to join his post-presidential staff at Mar-a-Lago.
"When she requested to go with other members of my team to Florida after serving a full term in office, I personally declined her request," Trump said on Truth Social during Hutchinson's live testimony.
Trump attempted to present Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony Tuesday as revenge, claiming she was "very upset and angry that he didn't want her" at his Palm Beach residence.
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The former president's attempt to distance himself from Hutchinson, whom he described as "bad news" on Tuesday despite claiming he barely knew her, came after the committee showed graphics of the West Wing to show how close it was to the Oval Office. as Meadows' assistant.
Multiple former White House aides also publicly endorsed Hutchinson's proximity to Trump and his chief of staff before and during his appearance on Tuesday.
"Anyone who downplays Cassidy Hutchinson's role or her access to the West Wing either doesn't understand how Trump [the White House] worked or is trying to discredit her because they are afraid of how damning this testimony is," tweeted Sarah Matthews, a former deputy press secretary. from the White House.
In response to this, a former White House aide said, "Everybody in the top White House knew her. And even if Trump didn't know her name, he certainly recognized her. She traveled on Air Force 1 with Mark on every trip."
Additionally, this former aide said that while Tuesday's testimony was insane, it's also 100% credible given what this person knew after working in the White House.
The most surprising episode for some advisers so far has been the "The Beast" incident, in which Trump allegedly tried to take the steering wheel of the presidential limousine to be taken to Capitol Hill on Jan. 6.
Gabby Orr and CNN's Pamela Brown contributed to this report.
Assault on the Capitol