Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testifies to the House select committee. Photo / AP

The accusations against former US President Donald Trump came tumbling out of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson like ready-made tabloid headlines at this week's House Select Committee on the January 6 attack.

Trump was aware his supporters were armed and ordered security to turn off metal detectors, she said; an "irate" Trump grabbed a steering wheel and attacked a Secret Service agent; he indicated support for protesters who were shouting "Hang Mike Pence"; and the President tossed food against a wall over Attorney General Bill Barr's refusal to accept election lies.

One former Secret Service agent cast doubt on Trump grabbing the wheel on an unusual if not pragmatic, basis. "I don't mean to sound disparaging to the former president, but just his girth would prevent him from actually getting to the steering wheel."

Trump responded on right-wing outlet Newsmax by discrediting Hutchinson. "The woman is living in fantasy land," he told the network. "She's a social climber."

In the post-Trump era, ushered in by the man himself, truth and lies are interchangeable in order to meet an end. Fact-checkers sprung up and wore out during his presidency. Even social media giant Twitter couldn't keep up and suspended his account indefinitely.

Supporters of Trump have suggested Hutchinson's testimony is largely hearsay and Trump claims he "hardly knew her". However, Brendan Buck, who was an aide to former House speaker Paul D. Ryan, says Hutchinson was always at principal-level meetings involving her boss, Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Since she fronted up, others are believed to have come forward despite several senior executives, including Meadows, refusing to co-operate.

Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger — one of the two members of his party on the January 6 committee — praised the 25-year-old "as a hero and a real patriot" for her testimony.

Hutchinson's willingness to testify arose only after she dismissed her lawyer who had close ties to the Trump White House.

A year after Congress voted to form a committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol, the truth is finally beginning to spill out.