Sarah Matthews, a former Trump White House deputy press secretary, is criticising House Republicans for branding her a liar during her testimony to the committee on January 6.

The former Trump aide claimed in a Wednesday night interview with CNN that it was an “embarrassing look” for House Republicans to accuse GOP Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik of lying while she was testifying against former President Donald Trump.

Also read: Jan 6 hearing: Why the 9th hearing is important

“Yeah, I thought it was definitely an embarrassing look for them. I was a current House staffer at the time and for them to tweet that out — they can’t claim ignorance. I know the people on [Rep.] Elise Stefanik’s team personally … And so they know that I was a current House staffer, and I think what was most astonishing to me about them tweeting that out was they tweeted it, calling me a liar, before I ever even opened my mouth. So they didn’t even hear what I had to say in my testimony,” Matthews said.

Also read: Capitol riots hearing to posit Donald Trump as ‘clear, present danger to democracy’

Matthews spoke to the panel in July on her time in the Trump administration and how she left in protest of Trump’s behaviour after the attack on the Capitol.

A tweet from the House Republican Conference during her testimony referred to her as “just another liar and pawn in (Speaker Nancy) Pelosi’s witch hunt,” among other things. Matthews served as a Republican assistant to the House’s select committee on the climate issue at the time. Later, the tweet was taken down.

Also read: What we learnt so far about the Jan 6 riots in the last 8 hearings

Even after receiving widespread notice for her testimony on January 6, Matthews, who is currently a senior consultant at communications consulting business, believes she still has a place inside the Republican Party.

“I’m hopeful that by speaking out and saying that Donald Trump is lying to the American people about the 2020 election, that it will hopefully encourage more people to come forward and acknowledge this,” she said, adding, “And I think that the more people that are willing to stand up and speak the truth, [it] will save the Republican Party, but I’m not encouraged by the direction that it’s headed right now.”

Also read: Next January 6 hearing: What to expect

Along with former White House assistant Cassidy Hutchinson, Matthews is one of a select group of former Trump staffers who has come forward to testify against the former president. They have established a support network for individuals who remained Trump supporters while they became intra-party outsiders, along with other female staffers like Alyssa Farah Griffin.