The House Jan. 6 select committee announced a surprise public hearing. One of the witnesses we'll hear from is Cassidy Hutchison, a top former aide to Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Follow this thread for updates.
Follow this thread for updates.
Hutchinson was extremely plugged in to Trump’s effort to stay in power, interfacing with top WH and Trump campaign aides and members of Congress who sought to overturn the election. Her video-taped testimony has been repeatedly cited by the committee. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/cassidy-h…
Hutchinson’s committee testimony popped up in several stories even before the committee began its public hearings: She reportedly heard and later recalled Mark Meadows’ description of Trump’s astoundingly enthusiastic reaction to chants of “Hang Mike Pence!” on Jan. 6.
She also reportedly testified that Meadows set fire to documents in his office after meeting with the Big Lie-supporting congressman Rep. Scott Perry.
Hutchinson testified that Meadows was warned of possible violence ahead of Jan. 6, and that he was deeply involved in the planning effort to steal a second term, including discussions with members of Congress about a plan for VP Pence to refuse to certify the election results.
Her testimony has also been repeatedly played back during live committee hearings, including her accounts of efforts by several members of Congress to obtain presidential pardons and the effort to assemble fake slates of Trump electors in several states won by Biden in 2020.
Hutchinson quoting Trump's response to the Secret Service after they told him rioters were armed, "I don't effing care that they have weapons, they are not here to hurt me, take the effing mags away, let my people in, they can march the Capitol from here."
White House lawyer Eric Herschmann, Hutchinson said, suggested that it would be “foolish to include” certain phrases in Trump’s speech on the Ellipse on the morning of Jan. 6. Hutchinson listed those phrases, some of which included variations of the word “fight.”
"We’ll get charged with every crime imaginable."
WH Counsel Pat Cipollone worked to block Trump and other senior WH officials from walking up to the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Cipollone told Hutchinson, she said, that she needed to “please make sure we don’t go up to the Capitol.”
WH Counsel Pat Cipollone worked to block Trump and other senior WH officials from walking up to the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Cipollone told Hutchinson, she said, that she needed to “please make sure we don’t go up to the Capitol.”
White House counsel Pat Cipollone was concerned with being charged with obstruction of justice, “defrauding the electoral count” “obstructing the Electoral College count,” if President Donald Trump pursued a march to the Capitol on Jan. 6, Hutchinson just testified.
Per Hutchinson’s telling of Ornato’s account, Trump said ‘I’m the effing president, take me up to the Capitol” When Engel told him there weren’t enough resources for the trip to be safe, “he reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel."
Hutchinson found ketchup “dripping down the wall” after Trump learned that his Attorney General Bill Barr had told the AP that the DOJ had not found evidence of fraud in the 2020 election.
Hutchinson found ketchup “dripping down the wall” after Trump learned that his Attorney General Bill Barr had told the AP that the DOJ had not found evidence of fraud in the 2020 election.
“He had thrown his lunch against the wall,” Hutchinson said, recounting how the valet was trying to clean up. “So, I grabbed a towel and started wiping the ketchup off the wall to help the valet out.”
She added that Trump would periodically throw plates and dishes when angry.
She added that Trump would periodically throw plates and dishes when angry.
As insurgents approached the Capitol on Jan. 6, Hutchinson recalled Meadows saying, "He (Trump) doesn't want to do anything."
She recalled Cipollone’s response, “Mark, something needs to be done or people are going to die, and the blood’s going to be on your fucking hands.”
She recalled Cipollone’s response, “Mark, something needs to be done or people are going to die, and the blood’s going to be on your fucking hands.”
Committee vice chair Cheney said that Trump instructed Meadows to speak with Roger Stone and Michael Flynn on Jan. 5. Hutchinson testified that Meadows called both Stone and Flynn on Jan. 5, but is unclear what was discussed.
Hutchinson then testified that Trump instructed Meadows to call Stone and Flynn on the night of Jan. 5, and that Meadows made both calls. According to Hutchinson, Meadows planned to attend a meeting at Giuliani’s war room at the Willard Hotel, but ended up dialing in instead.
Hutchinson testified that Trump was aware that insurrectionists were chanting “hang Mike Pence” at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Hutchinson recalled then-White House counsel Cipollone urging Meadows to take action in response to the calls for violence targeting Pence.
She said Meadows told her and Cipollone: “You heard him, Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn’t think they’re doing anything wrong.”
She said Meadows told her and Cipollone: “You heard him, Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn’t think they’re doing anything wrong.”
Recounting how she felt on Jan. 6 as Trump tweeted a condemnation of Pence as his supporters stormed the Capitol, Hutchinson said that as an American, she was “disgusted.”
“It was unpatriotic, it was un-American. We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie.”
“It was unpatriotic, it was un-American. We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie.”
Hutchinson said that there was an “Antifa camp” among some of Trump’s advisers, including Mark Meadows.
That group did not want Trump to back down: they wanted him to blame the violence on Antifa, the leftist bogeyman.
That group did not want Trump to back down: they wanted him to blame the violence on Antifa, the leftist bogeyman.
Important context here: months before Jan. 6, Trump himself wanted to invoke the supposed threat presented by Antifa as part of a justification for implementing the Insurrection Act to quell the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.
After Hutchinson testified that Meadows was in the “deflect and blame category” in response to the violence on Jan. 6, committee vice chair Rep. Cheney said the public can expect to hear more evidence of “many others” urging Trump and Meadows to take action to quell the violence
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