Tuesday was another bonkers day for the January 6th Committee. The star of Tuesday’s proceedings was a 26-year-old legislative assistant named Cassidy Hutchinson. Hutchinson was a staff assistant at the Office of Legislative Affairs in the Trump White House before she was promoted to special assistant to Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows. This gave her intimate first-hand knowledge of Meadows’s work and words, and first-hand accounts of Donald Trump’s behavior. Her testimony was absolutely wild – she described Trump’s ketchup-throwing tantrums, his violence and his attempt to lead the insurrection on January 6th, 2021.
Hutchinson on what Trump said as the insurrection unfolded: Informed that his supporters had come to the rally armed with weapons, Trump urged that security precautions at his rally be lifted, Hutchinson testified. “They’re not here to hurt me,” she recalled him saying. Even after the day’s violence had ended, Hutchinson said, Trump persisted in his support for the rioters. “He didn’t think they did anything wrong,” she said, summarizing Trump’s attitude. “The person who did something wrong that day was Mike Pence.”
Hutchinson said White House Counsel knew how bad it was: As early as Jan. 3, Hutchinson testified, White House counsel Pat Cipollone made clear he was dead set against Trump making any sort of journey to the Capitol, and he enlisted Hutchinson to help persuade Meadows to oppose it, as well: “He said to me, ‘We need to make sure that this doesn’t happen.’” Cipollone raised the issue with Hutchinson again on the morning of Jan. 6, she said, this time in stark terms. “We’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen,” she recalled him saying, enumerating crimes that could include obstruction of justice, defrauding the election and inciting a riot.
Trump was angry that Secret Service wouldn’t allow his armed supporters into his Stop the Steal rally on the morning of Jan. 6: “He was angry that we weren’t letting people through the mags with weapons… I overheard the president say something to the effect of, you know, I don’t f-ing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the f-ing mags away. Let my people in.”
Trump assaulted the chief of his Secret Service detail: After leaving the stage, Trump returned to his motorcade under the apparent belief that he would then be taken to the Capitol… Hutchinson described being told by Ornato what had happened next: Trump got into an armored presidential vehicle with Robert Engel, the chief of his Secret Service security detail. Engel, according to Hutchinson’s account, then told Trump he could not travel to the Capitol. It was not secure, and Trump would have to return to the White House.“The president had a very strong, a very angry response to that,” Hutchinson said, relaying Ornato’s account. “The president said something to the effect of, ‘I’m the f-ing president. Take me up to the Capitol now,’ to which [Engel] responded, ‘Sir, we have to go back to the West Wing.’” Trump, at that point, “reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel,” Hutchinson said. “Mr. Engel grabbed his arm and said, ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We’re going back to the West Wing. We’re not going to the Capitol.’ Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel, and when Mr. Ornato had recounted this story to me, he had motioned towards his clavicles.”
The fact that this baby-fisted madman assaulted the chief of his Secret Service detail because they wouldn’t take him to the Capitol to lead the insurrection in person is… stunning, frankly. I always half-way assumed Trump wasn’t on the ground at the Capitol because of his cowardice. But no, he wasn’t there because the Secret Service wouldn’t let him go and he threw a violent tantrum about it. Hutchinson also described Trump’s attitude throughout the day, much of which we have already heard – that Trump was rooting for the terrorists to murder Mike Pence and members of Congress, and that Trump told Meadows that Pence “deserved” to be hanged.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instar.
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- -Washington, District of Columbia – 20220628-Former Trump Aide Cassidy Hutchinson Testifies To The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack Cassidy Hutchinson, top former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, appears before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, -PICTURED: Cassidy Hutchinson -PHOTO by: Andrew Harnik/POOL/CNP/startraksphoto.com -062822_Jan6-Commission-Pool_002 This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Startraks Photo for licensing fee and rights information at sales@startraksphoto.com or call +1 212 414 9464 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Startraks Photo reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded
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- -Washington, District of Columbia – 20220628-Former Trump Aide Cassidy Hutchinson Testifies To The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack Cassidy Hutchinson, top former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, appears before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, -PICTURED: Cassidy Hutchinson -PHOTO by: Andrew Harnik/POOL/CNP/startraksphoto.com -062822_Jan6-Commission-Pool_004 This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Startraks Photo for licensing fee and rights information at sales@startraksphoto.com or call +1 212 414 9464 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Startraks Photo reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded
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- Washington, DC – US President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks to supporters gathered to protest Congress’ upcoming certification of Joe Biden as the next president on the Ellipse in Washington, DC, USA, 06 January 2021. Various groups of Trump supporters are gathering to protest as Congress prepares to meet and certify the results of the 2020 US Presidential election. Pictured: Trump BACKGRID USA 6 JANUARY 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Washington, DC – US President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks to supporters gathered to protest Congress’ upcoming certification of Joe Biden as the next president on the Ellipse in Washington, DC, USA, 06 January 2021. Various groups of Trump supporters are gathering to protest as Congress prepares to meet and certify the results of the 2020 US Presidential election. Pictured: Trump BACKGRID USA 6 JANUARY 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- -Washington, District of Columbia – 20220628-Former Trump Aide Cassidy Hutchinson Testifies To The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack Cassidy Hutchinson, top former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, appears before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, -PICTURED: Cassidy Hutchinson -PHOTO by: Andrew Harnik/POOL/CNP/startraksphoto.com -062822_Jan6-Commission-Pool_011 This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Startraks Photo for licensing fee and rights information at sales@startraksphoto.com or call +1 212 414 9464 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Startraks Photo reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded
Like so many said on Twitter: the last thing we are gonna do is copy/paste this woman’s face onto Wonder Woman’s body & treat her like a hero.
She’s not. She’s MAGA, all the way. Most likely had to cut a deal.
Whatever, she is complicit & great she testified, but she knew everything for months/years.
The big question is: will Garland actually DO something? Probably not.
ETA: right now, Imani Gandy just posted about how this woman is no hero. 8:03 am.
Raise the bar, guys. You don’t have to glorify every person. This woman is awful & testifying won’t change her.
Exactly. Just because I drive past 12 banks everyday and don’t rob them, does not warrant a medal of honour.
We also don’t need to tear her down because she DID testify, she WILL be in danger and she said more than “I do not recall.”
She doesn’t need to be hailed as a hero but neither should we pile on with the Magas that are calling her trash.
She was complying with a subpoena.
If you’re looking for bravery, look to Reality Winner.
1000% agree. Where were her voice and courage when all these things were happening?
The problem I have with her testimony is that so much of it is hearsay. The secret service can come out and say the incident in the limo never happened and there goes the integrity of her entire testimony. This is going to end up being another moment of ‘excitement’ that goes nowhere.
“The problem I have with her testimony is that so much of it is hearsay.”
on the contrary. that bit about 45 assaulting the SS guy is the ONLY part that is hearsay (and, strangely, hearsay from the very person who is now denying it). the rest of what she relayed was first-hand. she testified about conversations that SHE HAD, or that she was present for. that is the opposite of hearsay.
and PS, if those SS guys are willing to testify under oath that it never happened, I would consider their testimony, but a denial to the media ain’t that. not to mention that the two who denied it were known for being 45’s “yes men” who clashed with other SS who were more concerned with safety and dept policy.
@whatWHAT – you’re right, I’m no lawyer and hearsay is definitely not the word I should have used.
Personally, I refuse to get excited over everything she said. It’s nothing we didn’t already know about him and his whole team and as much as I’d like for this to be what finally takes it all down, it won’t be. I’m just too cynical and burnt out over all of it, not that my feelings matter here. No one will get arrested, no one is going down in a ball of fire. We’re two years past it, people are talking, but nothing will get done.
Look at all the traction ketchup on the walls is getting. So what? He’s a big baby, always was. He eats like shit and throws tantrums.
Just my crabby, old lady take.
honestly, Marcy, I have the same crabby, old lady take! lol.
yeah, I don’t think anything will happen, sadly, but her testimony did seem to move the needle a bit on how people feel…that is, even a Fox News host (Baier) commented on how “compelling” her testimony was and actually acknowledged that SHE was under oath and that 45’s denials, in comparison, were only on a social media site.
I’m a lawyer and hearsay is any statement that is made outside of the courtroom. So yes all of her testimony regarding conversations on Jan 6th was hearsay. It is not hearsay to describe a situation, someone’s actions, your perception of someone’s state of mind (he looked angry, he looked excited, etc) Also, testimony that is not objected to is evidence, even if it is hearsay. So while hearsay, her testimony is in evidence and can be considered.
@Marcy, hearsay is admissible in investigative hearings, especially when there is corroborating evidence, as there is here. There are 24 exceptions to the federal hearsay rule, many of which have multiple different circumstances in them. Much of her testimony falls into many of those exceptions.
IMO grace needs to be shown to those who leave the MAGA cult. Why vilify them forever? They got out with their own timing, and many are whistle blowing under Oath despite legit fear.
She was not under subpoena then, and it was well before the magnitude of this whole attempt to overthrow democracy. I think she’s brave and it took a lot for a young woman to step up. Credit where it’s due. And BTW, hearsay does not apply here, and even if it did, she was a party, so no hearsay.
Considering Hutchinson is risking her life by testifying, I’m giving her a pass. She gains nothing by doing this and has everything to lose.
You think she testified out of some sense of integrity?
A need to right a wrong?
She’s complying with a subpoena.
Risking her life to get information out there? Reality Winner.
Doesn’t want to go to jail? Cassidy Hutchinson.
Since she took no part in planning the attack she isn’t in any legal jeopardy. She has been deposed several times and they were all taped. She didn’t need to appear in person. If she was subpoena she could have plead the fifth to every question.
I don’t think she is a hero but I also give her a pass, her life will never be the same and she is only 25 and did a whole lot more than the men twice her age who are chicken sh*t!
If this woman is your definition of someone with integrity, character, worthy of your time defending.
She’s not mine. She’s doing what she had to do to save herself. She was in that world, & enjoyed it & all the perks.
Self preservation isn’t worthy of your defense. She’s nothing special, did nothing spectacular here.
Yet people want her to save them, want her testimony to end the “trump years” & finally get some justice.
That’s what this is about: people really like the idea of all this being over, finally, yah yes they’ll elevate anyone they think will do it.
It’s not enough. She’s not worthy of your defence.
She did what she did for herself, like all MAGA.
There’s a long country mile between elevating someone and saying, “They did a good thing here and they didn’t have to.”
She was complying with a subpoena.
Remember when everyone was all in for Avanatti?
He was being encouraged to run for president, because people thought he’d save them.
People want/need a saviour, so they don’t have to think/work/save themselves.
She didn’t do a good thing. Reality Winner, she did. Chelsea Manning.
Those women did.
Since when is giving someone a “pass” elevating them? So many wrong assumptions.
Why is everyone saying she’s being forced to testify?
If they could forced people to testify she would be way down the list.
Meadows has refused to testify before the panel. The House voted in December to recommend contempt charges against Meadows but the Justice Department declined to pursue a criminal indictment.
She’s there voluntarily. Whether she’s cut a deal or not can’t say but if she didn’t want to testify, she would do what the rest are doing and stay home.
Yet so many refuse to sit for depositions & this is the hill you die on Hyrule…so what if she was issued a subpoena? She complied & sat for a deposition. No is giving her a cookie or a gold star. She might not be a hero but her testimony was chilling & it does put her in danger.
@Hyrule she clearly disagreed with Meadows’ actions. I don’t really know what you expect her to have done before the fact. This whole thing played out very publicly, and yet it still happened. I don’t get the point of sh*tting on her for doing the right thing now. She still had the option to do the wrong thing. There are a whole lot of people more involved than she was who are still choosing not to testify.
Pretty sure she gets a book deal, at a minimum.
I’m not giving any of them a pass for their decision to be part of this administration. That was a choice they made. But, and I was saying this to my husband last night after we watched that testimony – there was a “too far” for her. There was a line it turned out that that even that evil corrupt bully William Barr wouldn’t cross. They and whoever else spoke to the Committee (I’m gonna exempt Nagini and that swamp creature she married)) did the right thing and I am grateful to them for doing it.
Exactly. The misogynistic hate aimed at a then 23 year old woman who had no part in the planning and no power is absolutely gross
And seems like it’s designed to stop discussion about the horrifying things she testified to,
Disappointed to see this kind of commentary on CB, certain posters bullying others to demean this woman, who by the way, the Right is out to get right now.
I don’t trust names I don’t recognize here on this topic.
I don’t have any warm feelings for her — she worked for and supported the Trump administration, and that’s all I need to know about her to form my opinions. But as far as “villains” go, she is small potatoes. When POS Mike Flynn, a former general who swore an oath to defend the Constitution, testified, he pleaded the 5th Amendment when asked whether the violence on Jan. 6 was justified, or whether he believes in the peaceful transition of power in the USA. How would a simple “yes” in response to his belief in the peaceful transition of power tend to incriminate him? So you know his true answer would have been “no.” These seditious, traitorous, @ssholes need to be criminally prosecuted.
And Reality Winner was wrongfully charged and imprisoned. George Bush’s Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, leaked the identity of a CIA operative to reporters, as retaliation for the operative’s husband’s article in the New York Times that doubted parts of President Bush’s claims about Hussein (which did turn out to be lies). At least Winner’s leak was motivated by her public interest — Armitage’s leak was motivated purely by revenge. Yet Armitage was not tried for the leak, and didn’t even lose his job. The Republicans are truly evil.
She didn’t have to “remember” any of this. She could have just said she wasn’t in the loop or didn’t know. Nobody would have know if she had these conversations. Let’s give her a bit of credit and not deny the reality of what she had to say.
Saying you don’t remember, when you actually do remember, is perjury. Society shouldn’t be saying that perjury is an option. And of course, if there is any evidence that she does remember (such as very recent statements), she could be charged for perjury, so it’s in her own interests to tell the truth.
Because you don’t think this is a brave thing to do, does not make it so. People were killed, blood was shed and this was no small thing. I’m pretty old and have never seen something like this. Tfg thought it was fun because it stoked his already over-inflated ego, but she did it out of honor and integrity, something I think has gone by the wayside with the advent of tfg inciting hate wherever he goes.
This woman is extraordinarily brave, considering the lunatics she’s testifying against and their unhinged followers.
Yes! Beat me to it.
And I cannot express my disgust enough about Trump voters, how can you vote someone like him? He’s making Kim Jong Un seem sane.
No she’s not. She’s trying to either get a career as a lobbyist or pundit. She knew she couldn’t lie to congress bc of the text messages and didn’t want to go to jail or be banned from ever being in politics. That is all. She was complicit until she realized it may negatively effect her life and career. That’s not bravery, that’s opportunistic. She could have sounded the alarm in November or December when this was being planned, but she didn’t.
No, she isn’t. Brave would have been saying something before it happened or at the very least, during impeachment. All these people waited to see the outcome before acting. Stop making these people out to be heroes.
They were fine with seeing 1MM people die from COVID, mocking disabled people, White nationalist terrorism , blowing up the deficit, screwing over the poor and enabling the rich, criminal activity by almost every, single person in the administration, babies ripped from their parents and lost forever, and on and on.
Just stop with lionizing this woman because she’s young, white, and conventionally attractive. Just, no.
She was 23 years old at the time. Incriminating the most powerful person in the world isn’t an easy task, especially for someone with little professional, much less life, experience.
Thank you MeganC. Perfectly said. We can so easily judge her but no one knows the pressure this woman was under. We do we women tear each other down so quickly. We rally behind the 23 year old who was harassed and did not come out for fear of her job (rightly so) but we don’t show the same empathy to this young woman. Sure she got caught up, sure she may be saving her skin by testifying but she is still testifying and grown men much older than her are not complying or are pleading the fifth. Also, the Trump Goons are calling people with threats – THAT was her world. We may not like her motives for testifying or her in actions before hand, but she is now stepping up to the plate.
I notice you both chose to completely ignore the second part of post to continue uplifting this woman who worked for Ted Cruz, then Meadows/Trump admin.
She is NOT a ‘good’ person or a hero.
@Sue E Generis, I am not lionizing her AT ALL. But I will not minimize the courage that it STILL takes to come forward. I am not here to judge her as “good” or “bad” nor do I think she is a hero. But I stand firm that what she did took courage.
Who is uplifting her? So many wrong assumptions going around today.
My mother and I were speculating that someone counseled this young woman and pointed out “You are 25. These people are going down. Do not go with them. They aren’t worth it.” Ultimately, it’s self preservation.
The fact that President Clown Car has been calling and threatening people (or having people call to threaten folks) was another wild revelation.
My mother rewatched Fear City yesterday, on Netflix – Trump’s family’s long history of ties to the mafia (and mimicking of their approach) becomes more and more apparent with each hearing.
that person was likely Elizabeth Cheney.
I remain hopeful that bright and promising young women like Hutchison and Olivia Troye will realize that they don’t have to sacrifice themselves to a corrupted stank org like the Republican party.
If allow myself to think of any Republican Repube as brave, it would be a woman with real balls: Elizabeth Lynne Cheney.
Cassidy Hutchinson just picked up which way the wind was blowing and decided to the right thing and tell the truth.
I don’t think Cheney is being brave, I think she is trying to pull the Republican Party back into the mainstream by exposing Trump and his cronies for the frauds that they are.
I think there’s a bit of bravery there, considering how unhinged his supporters are, but her idea of what the Republican Party should be is still abhorrent and that’s what she wants to go back to. it’s definitely a “we have a common goal at the moment but that’s it” situation.
I would think one would have to be pretty brave to be in the same party, let alone room, with Trump and/or his cronies. Can one even imagine the true stink & the stank???
Liz Cheney is pissed. They talked smack about her dad and her credentials. She’s also a garbage person who is in favor of stripping rights from everyone. She’s mad bc her party had the nerve to try to take her power when she’s one of the top fundraisers. That is all. She supported all of the SCOTUS nominees and federal judges trump picked.
“Brave” are the two election officials from Georgia, Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman, who testified in public, even after all the harassment and threats they received as a result of Trump and Giuliani’s lies.
Exactly.
She is young and brave.
The thing that bothered me the most was that they were trying to figure out how to make the riots a BLM or Antifa issue.
The President’s leaders wanted to make this a black issue. Systemic racism begins at the highest office.
She’s complying with a subpoena.
I cannot believe people are in here arguing about this woman rather than commenting about what she testified to. Come. On.
@Onerous – EXACTLY THIS
Agreed, this young lady dropped some major bombshells yesterday. Whatever her motives were for coming forward, she brought the heat yesterday. All those who are saying her testimony is false need to testify under oath that she’s lying and no claiming the fifth.
Michael Flynn complied with a subpoena too, and there’s a wide gulf between what they shared.
Ornato is trying to discredit her on minor details but photos and statements of others corroborate her.
The MAGAs are also all screaming hearsay to try to discredit her, which is ludicrous. Hearsay is admissible in an investigative hearing AND there are dozens of exceptions to the federal hearsay rule, none of which the MAGA pundits seem to know about. Most of her testimony would fall under the exceptions in a trial.
The timing of what she described is essential. Secret Service reported that many of the people at the Elipse checkpoints were armed with an assortment of weapons, including guns, BEFORE the speech. Trump knew this and demanded the MACs come down. The city’s police reported they saw people with AR-15s in the crowd BEFORE the speech. He knew that too. There were pictures of MAGATS in trees with long guns BEFORE the speech, he knew that too. And he had a victory speech prepared for the Capitol.
Also, he knew from what happened with his State of the Union squabble during his budget lockdown that it is unconstitutional for a President to enter the Capitol without the express written permission of the Speaker of the House. No way would Pelosi give that. He clearly planned for his thugs to kill her.
I’m not watching the trial as it raises my blood pressure too much.
But if Ornato is discrediting her recall of what he told her, then shouldn’t he be doing it under oath? It doesn’t seem like he is?
He’s not doing it under oath and people are calling him on it all over Twitter
This is what I thought. Say to the committee if she’s lying? Why not?
Exactly. Oh she’s lying? Come tell the truth under oath then.
I’m not watching either, I’ve been reading summaries, but my stress and anxiety is too high right now to watch it daily.
@Rapunzel and that goes for ALL of the MAGAts who are calling her a liar.
if 45 and/or Meadows want to counter her testimony, all they have to do is show up in front of the committee and testify UNDER OATH, just like she did. simple, really.
but they won’t, and we know why.
None of them will go under oath without immunity or a plea deal. They are quibbling with minor bits of her testimony about what happened in the car after the speech. None of them are saying a word about the guns that they knew were there.
And at this stage of this type of investigation, they don’t ask a question unless they know the answer and have documentation of it from multiple sources.
I think the MOST important things are that he
1.) wanted armed people to be let in.
2.) planned many days in advance and during the event to go with those armed people to Capitol where
3.) the constitutionally scheduled business of Congress would be interrupted, preventing the electoral count.
Can you imagine the images of Trump descending on Congress with armed Proud Boys and anointing himself the winner? They mentioned Guilliani talking about Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, so it would not surprise me if we eventually get evidence that Guillani/Trump conspired with them.
One more important point:
There were so many details related to the planning of violence! Meadows was UNSURPRISED by the violence at the Capitol. Didn’t even look up from his phone when he was told. He told her days before that it was going to get very ugly on the 6th. There’s just so much obvious planning. This wasn’t a spontaneous attack, this was a coordinated effort to use physical violence to prevent the electoral vote count.
I was enraged watching her try to look doe eyed and solemn. She’s a magat, she’s complicit, and she’s just trying to save her own skin. She could have said all this during impeachment. And how does a 21 year old get a job on capitol hill fresh out of undergrad? I’m sure her whole family is maga and she was a nepotism hire. She gets no props or sympathy from me. Trump needs to be tried for sedition, convicted, sentenced to death, and Biden can commute his sentence to life in prison. And all the other conspirators need the same. It is the only way to stop them from doing this again. And get rid of the fucking filibuster so we can protect voting rights or they really will overthrow the next election.
She has MAGAT connections and that’s all that matters. From what i understand, there are students in their first year of law school who already have their clerkships lined up. As long as you’re a member of the Federalist society & a maggot, you have the credentials for a career.
Have you ever worked on Capitol Hill? All low level (and some not so low level) positions are staffed by really junior people with newly minted degrees. Hutchinson is the first person in her family to go to college and she cultivated her maga connections herself. She chose the wrong side obviously, but she is a self made woman.
A self-made woman who chose the path more vile. Is she worth propping up?
My two cents 1) How absolutely seductive it must be to be offered a job in any White House at 22/23 years old, can’t fault a young person for trying to get ahead by taking this job. She grew up with my son’s best friend who said she was a very nice girl, very honest and believes whatever she is doing now, it is because she believes it is the right thing. I can only say, he believes what he is saying about her. 2) My son is 25 – there is no way he could handle any of this. While hardworking, He is still looking to be mentored & for his colleagues to guide him at work. She may have been a Trumpet but I still think she is doing the right thing now. God, l it took grown man Pence 4 whole years.
Ugh. Anyone supporting Trump’s fascism Is. Not. Nice. God, can we stop letting these (cute, white) Hitler Youth Redux off the hook by bleating how they really are rilly rilly sweet kids with such a promising future? How can anyone sane or with any moral compass believe that what Trump stood for was right? You support tyranny you are scum. Period.
Deering24: I don’t think that she is NOT a Fascist or at the very least an ultra-conservative. You don’t get in the room unless you believe in the mission. Having said that, as much as I don’t agree with anything fascists or conservatives stand for, I think you can be one and still try to operate with integrity. I think we have seen all these old fascists go along with Trump – Flynn, Pence, Meadows, Stone, Bannon, they are scum . . . Just like the Secretary of State in Georgia, it gives me hope to see those who I am so far from on the political spectrum do the right thing, particularly when that person is young, regardless of their looks, or race, or creed.
I’m as lefty as anybody on this thread but I think she’s incredibly brave. she went against 25 years of conservative inculcation and told a lot of uncomfortable truths.
She has no criminal exposure here, so her speaking out has ended what could have been a very promising career in Republican politics.
You don’t know that she has no criminal exposure; you only know that you don’t know: the Committee has been focused on a very specific narrative and we don’t know much more than what it has chosen to reveal.
The fact that she changed from a lawyer who was Trump’s WH ‘ethics’ lawyer early on to a friend of Jeff Sessions says everything I need to know about her.
You can be a bad person who does a brave thing. And it frankly is brave to testify to remembering anything about this day with the level of crazy someone people currently operate at.
Very true!
I feel similarly about Liz Cheney. These women have bravely been truthful at considerable risk to themselves. While speaking out in no way negates the rest of their lives and priorities, speaking out in truth is far far better than not doing so, even if their reasons for doing so might be tainted.
Exactly how I feel @Blithe, well stated.
See my comment above regarding Elizabeth Lynne Cheney.
I will toast to that!
I usually just lurk and usually enjoy, and learn a lot from these comments. I escaped from a very conservative upbringing and the purity culture that goes with it in my mid-30’s. IMHO, not being able to acknowledge that this one action of hers took courage is just another form of purity culture and misogyny. I’m not giving her a pass on the rest, like I don’t give Cheney a pass on her voting record. But what Hutchinson did took courage and if she was raised in a working class conservative family, I get how hard those bridges, external and internal, are to burn and she burned them all yesterday.
@Lurker, same same same. And I would be lying if I said the indoctrination that my childhood and adolescence involved doesn’t periodically raise it’s ugly head into my subconscious and haunt me….and I am in my mid 40s.
Agreed—it takes guts to go in front of the nation and talk about this on the record. I’m never going to be a fan of hers or others that continued to work for that treasonous administration, but I appreciate that she’s willing to provide hard evidence of the administration’s crimes. If people get charged with sedition, obstruction, etc., it’s in part b/c of her testimony and evidence she provided. At this point, God help me, I’ll take whatever win I can get in this sh*tshow.
I think it took courage too. Don’t like her, don’t trust her motives, but no denying she has guts.
100 percent concur!!
I agree, Lauren and Lurker.
You know how mad Trump must have been to waste food by throwing it at the wall. That man never misses a meal.
I actually cackled at that!
I found the temper tantrum stories hilarious also. I hope he paid for all those dishes he broke.
I hope they gave him the IKEA plates rather than letting him destroy the Lincoln china.
I hope those who work for the White House, not POTUS, cleared that place out of anything super valuable or important, as if a toddler were coming to stay over.
What a waste of ketchup.
Ok slightly OT here, a recent commercial showed Heinz ketchup co. asking people in 90 countries to draw a picture of ketchup. Without exception everyone of them drew a picture of Heinz.
She said it was not the first time he was throwing his plates. The toddler in chief is theatrical if nothing else.
I would give a million to hear stories from the cleaning crew who had to prep the White House for the Bidens. 🤮🤮🤮🤮
I can appreciate what she is saying and I’m sure it took guts to tell the full story while also recognizing that she is complying with a subpoena (although she could have followed some of the other GOPers with a lot of “I don’t recalls” rather than being as specific as she was) and that she was Meadows assistant.
She is also really young and I’m sure someone told her to not go down with this ship and to comply with the subpoena and tell everything she knew.
I’m sure she’d still like to have a political career, since she’s barely started one.
Becks1, you know what I hope? I hope it was her parents who gave her that advice.
I hope Trump goes to jail for this. One of the sheriffs of my state formed a posse two years ago. There was some pushback because some were calling it a militia. Guess who got caught at the January 6th rally. The sheriff! He claimed he didn’t go in the capitol building though. So I think this goes deeper than many people suspect.
My local sherrif’s posse rode horses in Trump’s inauguration parade, even did a gofundme for it.
It’s comprised of numerous neighbors of mine. It’s terrible.
I really wish they would have let him go. It would have been so much easier to impeach and convict then prosecute him.
Same. He’s gotten away with so much at this point. As much as I’d like to think something will come of this, the glass is half empty for me.
They should have told him there were a lot of steps. He’d never have made it.
hahaha Lucy this made me laugh
In the hearing they did state that she is not testifying in exchange of any deal and that she is not being investigated.
Anyone who had an inside look at what happened that day and leading up to it will very likely have been/will still be MAGA.
I feel like if we get caught up too much in “she’s a hero” or “she’s a villian” then we risk having the same arguments they’re having over at Truth Social and we’ll just be helping devalue her incredibly important testimony.
No, I don’t think they should have let him go. Instead of a coup attempt, we’d have an actual coup.
He would have arrived at the Capitol with armed men. Absolutely would have been allowed in because he was the sitting President, and could have successfully executed the coup.
Yes. It would’ve looked more incriminating but the secret service audio and printout showed there was a guy with the stock of an AR15 under his vest and he climbed a tree(showed footage). Secret Service was probably sh-tting bricks that day, from the moment Trump demanded the removal of the metal detectors onward. An armed bloodthirsty crowd is their worse nightmare.
So SS is apparently prepared to testify Hutchinson’s story didn’t happen. I’ll believe that when I see it.
I can’t imagine the committee would put out that story if they didn’t have corroborating testimony. They can’t be that stupid can they?
They haven’t been acting stupid. I think there has to be a reason why they apparently rushed to get this testimony out there, when they had said they were not going to have any more public hearings until after the July holiday. They’re strategic.
Most of Cassidy’s story did not revolve around the Secret Service. She testified about events starting January 2nd onward. You could redact the tussle in the car and still have a lot of truth bombs.
Yes, great point, Truthiness!
So here’s the thing about the SS – they have a culture of keeping very quiet about the bad behavior of the President. I’m not surprised that they are denying that it happened and that this guy came back and shared the story.
To compound that, one of the agents was a Trump loyalist who left the detail and went to work for the WH.
As a reminder, Pence refused to leave the Capitol with Trump’s SS agents, because he didn’t trust them.
I’ll believe them when they testify under oath.
I watched the testimony and I need to rewatch it—there was SO much damning info flying I didn’t catch it all. She connected Giuliani and Meadows to the PB and OK groups, she named names of who knew the plans in advance and detailed the types of weapons the rioters brought with them. Confirmed Trump’s plan to go with the rioters to the capitol.
We know Garland issued search warrants for Jeff Clarke and John Eastman. Pat Cipollone is squirming this morning. The J6 committee has teed it up for the DOJ to make the next move. What will happen next?
I could honestly see Trump trying to leave the country if the heat gets too hot. That’s what people like him do, isn’t it?
Isn’t he friends with Putin?
I want Trump to flee to Russia! Drop the mask completely.
❤️❤️❤️
I give Hutchinson credit for poise under fire. I was listening on the car radio, and she sounded scared when she started talking. Understandable. She was clear and steady and very believable. I know she was complying with a subpoena, but there can be no doubt that she has been threatened and it is only going to get worse.
I’m sure she does hold abhorrent views. How could she not if she worked in that WH? But she’s very young. She might believe what her parents do, her siblings, what she was raised to believe. I mean, it’s set but it’s not fully baked……yet.
It was compelling testimony, that’s for sure. The content of it and the way it was delivered made it so. When I heard on Monday night that there was going to be a “surprise” witness I never imagined it would be this jaw-dropping.
She is under 24 hour protection from the Capitol Police and was escorted in and out in and out while everyone else had to remain in the room so they could get her out of the building safely.
I was a practicing attorney for a long time. Not a litigator, but familiar with the proceedings. I was once deposed for over two hours in a civil case in which the woman who bought our house unjustly accused us of having failed to disclose mold and sued us for a bunch of $$$. I was in no physical danger, but it was nerve-racking as Hell. This has to be 10 times worse.
General Flynn took the 5th when asked if he believed in the peaceful transfer of power. Let that sink in.
Mark Meadows is pond scum and a coward.
I’ll take a person doing the right thing for the wrong reason any day over people who do nothing. I’ll take a person who waited a year and a half to do the right thing over a person who continues to do nothing.
The fact that this commission exists in its current form and is able to conduct this investigation without the interference of MAGA republicans is nothing short of a miracle. May they all stay safe.
100 percent.
Flynn didn’t get stripped of his medals and rank? Seriously?
I wish that I could say that I am surprised that folks on here and on social media are lauding this young woman. What IS it with certain white women needing to elevate white women who have assisted in destroying this country? She worked for Ted Cruz. She worked for the Trump administration who has done so much damage to this country that I doubt that it will ever be reversed. She is not brave. She complied with a subpoena and told the truth under oath. Stop this madness.
As a white woman I have the right to give credit where credit is due, whether it is to this white woman (who is also very young) or to the GOP bigwig from Arizona (a white man) who did the right thing or to the two black women election officials from Georgia who were attacked for doing their job and offered such compelling testimony.
Personally I am not “lauding” her, just saying I am glad she told the truth and told it well and rather unflinchingly. Is she a MAGA? Yes, and I dock her huge points for that. But she is showing more integrity than the men twice her age who won’t do their civic duty by telling the truth under oath.
In this particular situation (the hearings), she is part of the solution, not part of the problem.
+1000
Yes, she complied with a subpoena when so many before her did not. Does she deserve a cookie or gold star? No. All the comments here are discussing this, instead of what she said & that misses the point. It was pretty explosive.
You do realize that because of her testimony she now has a bullseye on her back that will be there for a very long time. She’ll likely lose her job, even her career path. I’m reminded of what happened to Fawn Hall after the Iran-Contra mess. She spiraled down into cocaine addiction and eventually went to rehab after an overdose. She now works at a bookstore and stays out of the public eye. We’re not all “white women needing to elevate white women who have assisted in destroying this country”, we’re looking at a young woman who was likely inculcated into republicanism by her very conservative family, and certainly didn’t anticipate what happened on Jan. 6 or the life-altering aftermath of her political choices. She shouldn’t be held up as the poster girl for a deadly insurrection.
Okay. If you say so.
I hate how much the country needs the Republicans’ testimony. What’s worse is that Meadows, Cippollone and Flynn are too cowardly to testify. Cippollone said to Cassidy “we’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable.”
GirlNinja–thank you. Like this bitch deserves uber-praise for suddenly being moral. Amazing how black folks would never get cut slack for this treason.
She’s not getting uber-praise and how do you know how moral/immoral she is without actually knowing her? How do you know she’s a bitch? She did nothing treasonous and last I heard it’s not illegal to be a republican. Nor are we cutting her slack because she’s white. She has done nothing wrong other than respond to a subpoena with the facts.
I’m not an American so it’s very interesting to watch these reactions here. People are discussing more about this woman who is testifying than about the horrifying info that the US president wanted to personally lead armed attack onto one of your highest institutions.
Most of you are discussing a messenger not the message, which I find very interesting
+1
I’ll say the things that got me the most was when she said meadows had almost no reaction to the news that they were there heavily armed protesters, that he straight up said Trump didn’t care that they were chanting hang Mike pence, that he thought they were right, and when Trump said let them in they aren’t here to hurt me.
And that Mike Pence still carries water for Trump. Insanity!
Pence is an idiot.
@Denise THIS ^^^ I am really astounded that people (other than MAGA of course) are trying to tear this woman down! Really?? Why don’t we focus on the unbelievable, frightening, Mad King s**t Donald Trump did, said, in her testimony!!!! She is very young, testifying under oath, when so many of other MAGA counterparts don’t have the balls to do it. But again, why are piling on and attacking this woman, when we should be focusing on the revelations of her testimony?? Trump literally knew there were armed people at his rally, wanted them there, wanted to go to Capital with them “they are not here to hurt me”. He physically assaulted his Secret Service agent, throws baby temper tantrums in the Oval Office when his AG tells him in no uncertain terms there is NO election fraud. Doesn’t give a s**t when he is told there are chants to “Hang Pence” – “maybe he deserves it” THESE are the things to focus on!! And Merrick Garland better use this, and other revelations in this Committe to take action.
I don’t think piling onto this young woman, when she is most DEF one of the ones Liz Cheney referred to at the end of the hearing, who was threatened by the Trump clan if she moved forward with her deposition/testimony – is helpful at all.
Didn’t see these comments before I posted my own below, but co-sign Denise, Twin Falls and AmyB.
discussing the messenger instead of the message is so much easier. We all know we are a bit over the edge of fascism.
The testimony yesterday confirmed that. And confirmed the worst truths about one of our major parties, a party that is still poised to win the mid-terms.
The “attack the messenger ignore the message” seems to absolutely play into what Trump cultists would want (not saying anyone here is doing it for that reason)
In the meantime, there has not been one single instance since Trump did his descent on the escalator campaign launch where things happened, people tried to grasp the awful way Trump and his cronies behaved based on limited information and then later when the actual details of what actually happened come out it’s a 1000 times more outrageous, horrendous, dangerous and corrosive than anyone could imagine!
I’m not sure anyone actually had “Trump tries to personally wrest control of the Presidential limo and assault his SS protection team to personally storm the Capitol” on their “Things Trump does in the Coup” bingo card.
Throwing ketchup and dishes at walls in the White House in a childish rage probably was on someone’s guess list though.
Yes! I’ve also seen people (elsewhere) focusing on lunches thrown at walls and Trump trying to grab the steering wheel. There are so many more troubling things that were said! (I posted a comment regarding that further up the thread).
I think the message just wasn’t very surprising. Someone finally having the guts to spill it is interesting, but I think most people assumed things went down kind of like this.
Yes, none of it was surprising, but now it’s on the record. And none of us really know what’s going on in this young woman’s head, but she would not have been in a position to be culpable for any of it. She’s an example of someone overcoming their cognitive dissonance to speak out, but I would have preferred this to have come out on January 7th.
@JanetDR absolutely! Here we are, though, so I’ll take it!
I am also not an American, although my daughter is headed to a Southern State for University (she is going into Political Science and then maybe Law and wants to be in the community that has such a strong history of resistance and civil rights).
We also don’t know if Cassidy Hutchinson has regrets, has changed her views and values, and would do things differently if she were to redo it. She was a very young person who was given access to the apex of power in a very, very powerful country. I can understand how someone who came from a working-class, conservative family would be less than ideal at being critical about that. We also don’t know if she had given her story to anyone who came asking before now. Or if she knew who she would tell that the President of the US and his Chief of Staff were encouraging an insurrection; who would you trust in the early aftermath?
It is complicated. And I thought she handled herself and her responses really well in such a challenging position. She knows her every word and nonverbal language will be dissected. I commend her for giving others a good example of being calm, articulate, sure of her answers, and believable under intense scrutiny. My daughters now have this and Hilary Clinton to compare to Kavanagh and some of the dipshit men who have testified and I like that.
Good for your daughter. If she’s going to Uni in the south consider sending her with Plan B for anyone who may need it. Their reproductive rights will likely be increasingly curtailed virtually anywhere in the south.
@Mizliz – she’s getting an IUD next week so hopefully that helps if she needs any reproductive protection.
I’m happy about any testimony that implicates that vile cretin Trump and I’m surprised but happy there are any Republicans who aren’t so far gone as to want a violent coup. Obviously I disagree COMPLETELY with Liz Cheney on almost every other issue (I hear she supports gay rights? so I would have that in common with her too).
That doesn’t mean I am “elevating” MAGAs. I just would really, really love to see SOME consequences for the Trump gang.
I’m just surprised it was ketchup on the walls and not mayo.
For the French fries and double cheeseburgers, only ketchup will do.
I’m ok with her being a hardcore republican as long as you follow the law. I have a problem with her not resigning and reporting what she knew to authorities about Jan 6.
To all the people saying things like she should have blown the whistle BEFORE Jan 6, would you all have done that, in her shoes at 24? I sound accusatory there and I don’t mean to be, I am just more curious. It’s hard for me to put myself in her shoes because I would not have worked for any of those idiots to begin with. But it seems like she was in a VERY dangerous situation. I absolutely strive to do the right thing in life, but I have never been in a position quite as sketchy as she was. I am not so much defending her as wondering if I am truly a coward, because I definitely think expecting her to speak up DURING the situation is a lot to ask of even a really decent person?
I once thought my boss was possibly stealing $ from my company. I didn’t have proof, more that I saw an area where they would have the opportunity and felt like they might have the inclination. I spent a LONG time debating what to do, because I worried that if I blew the whistle and was wrong, they would remain my boss. Luckily, while I was debating, something came up that made me believe they actually weren’t stealing that $. But I still don’t know what I would have eventually have done if I was left with no closure. And I mean, no one would have wanted me dead nor would I have been on the news HAD I stepped up. I was still really stuck and unsure what to do.
Agree. I once caught my boss padding his expense accounts (said he was taking his wife with him to conferences all over the world…he wasn’t). I advised the accounting department and one month later I was fired. This young woman was/is in a no-win situation and will likely be ostracized for it at the very least.
I was a new employee in a publicly traded medium-sized company who discovered a multimillion dollar overstatement in revenue. Thinking it was an error they of course they’d want to correct I reported it to my manager, the Director of Finance… who promptly hoovered up all paperwork related to the transaction behind the error and told me not to breathe a word to anyone. Nothing got corrected, so I reported it to the CFO, since he was legally on the hook for accurate public financial statements I figured he’d want to know. I got a “don’t you worry your pretty little head about that” response and did nothing, aside from circling back to the Director landing me on their s***list. When that became clear I put in my notice the next day with no job lined up. There was no way in hell I was going to work for a company with a CFO willing to falsify financial statements like that (given the company size, it was a material misstatement). I was very happy a couple of years later when the SEC and other authorities made the company issue restatements and fined the executive team (the issue I’d found was just one of several irregularities… there was a pattern of overstating results)
I hadn’t reported them, I was
Junior and didn’t have a full picture and I figured their independent financial auditors should find it (I may have given one of them a heads up to look at sales figures for certain quarters on my way out) so I was chicken there. But no way was I going to continue working with people with zero ethics and a blatant willingness to break the law. I was not much older than this person.
In my first job after I got my terminal degree, there were serious crimes against women. I tried to report to my supervisors, all the way up to the president of the university, but they were all complicit or totally self-centered and gaming the system (the Vice President, a woman, told me she wasn’t going to go against the senior professors because she wanted their support to become president), and they made my life hellish and ostracized me. I finally left, realizing I wasn’t going to make a difference.
Very often, coming forward and complaining about a crime within a corrupt system achieves nothing but your own downfall. I cannot imagine how it was inside the Trump administration, a million times worse than my university.
Trump really wanted a bloodbath. He wanted armed supporters to move around unimpeded. He wanted to go to the Capitol to stop the counting of the votes & to preside over the extrajudicial killing of his VP. This was the master plan when all else had failed.
It’s always amazing to me to see the effect individual actions can have in extraordinary circumstances. Here, we have secret service agents refusing to give in while being assaulted by the man they’re protecting. Mike Pence borrowed a spine to make sure the votes were certified (after being schooled by Dan f*cking Quayle, of all people). I wouldn’t want to grab a drink with Cassidy Hutchinson, but her testimony will have real impact, especially with nailing down the timeline & establishing the mindset of key players on the day. Martha Mitchell couldn’t keep her mouth shut & had a habit of drunk dialing reporters–she still wound up taking down Nixon. Fewer people are saved by heroes than by ordinary, flawed people who choose to do the right thing in the moment.
Love your comment. Especially the Pence borrowing a spine. And your last sentence, WOW, Very deep and I agree 100%.
I will say this, from his adoration of Putin and his arse kissing of Erdogan, to all this crap – I really think he thought he could pull off a coup. BUT, he can’t be that stupid can he???
I mean, he almost did. I was surprised at how well coordinated the whole thing was, shocking really.
LBB, yes. Maybe that’s it – that this whole thing was well organized by TRUMP. It’s still hard to digest and I hope he and his family never set eyes on the oval office except for on TV
I think Trump is deeply stupid, so he probably thought he could pull this off. But most importantly, he was desperate. Being surrounded by true believers, enablers & intoxicated lunatics (Giuliani, Don Jr.) just made it go as far as it did.
I just can’t get over that they allowed these crowds in with weapons just because Trump demanded it. The way he was refused to be driven to the Capitol they should have refused him with this as well. And l had wondered why he didn’t go there when he told the crowds that he would, l thought he chickened out. That weapons were allowed in the presence of a POTUS is horrifying enough, no matter who it is, but then when they marched on the streets of Washington to their final destination with firearms is the stuff of nightmares. They all knew the crowd was armed and they did nothing.
@Feeshalori no, he was demanding that they take the metal detectors away so that the people with weapons could fill in the audience, but they didn’t do that. The people with weapons watched from beyond the barriers. They didn’t let them into the area where he was speaking. They confiscated weapons from the people who went through the detectors.
Thanks for the clarification, Tealily, it’s still just so shocking that such a vast crowd had firearms at a rally invited by a sitting president who wanted a bloodbath in his efforts to stage a coup. I don’t recognize my country anymore and this has me deeply shaken. May he and his cronies rot in hell.
What Trump wanted was to sail into the capitol on a river of blood and fire to declare himself god emperor. He knew that there were people in the mob who were prepared to capture and kill Pence and others. He know that there were people in the mob who were going after the votes to destroy them – its only the quick thinking of a few brave souls that ensured that didn’t happen.
If the mob had gotten their hands on those certificates it would have been game over.
Yes, this (so well written!). His DESPERATION to go to the Capitol shouldn’t be taken lightly. He saw it as his coronation. He wanted them to lay siege, killing people if necessary, so he could retain power.
@DU, I am not disagreeing so please don’t see it as that, but I can’t fathom to think they thought or he thought it would be sustainable in this day and age to attempt a coup like this in the US. But I am very naïve and I’m sure many said the same thing before monarchies and governments were over thrown.
Seraphina, I thought like you for a long time, but it is just hard to believe that he didn’t want to legitimately attempt a violent coup when you put these pieces together:
1. He was told that his supporters had weapons and body armor, including AR-15s, and he said let them in and turn off the metal detectors.
2. He heard that they were chanting to hang Mike Pence, and he said maybe they should.
3. He and his staff anticipated *violence* on Jan. 6th many days in advance, and did nothing to stop or discourage it.
4. He scheduled the rally and violence to happen on the Constitutionally mandated day that Congress would count electoral votes, meaning that he intended to have an impact on this act of congress.
All of those things make a solid case that he was encouraging/enabling a violent coup.
@Tiffany – I whole heartedly believe that’s what he wanted. The dots connect. But to actually think he could get away with it and sustain power is like BATSHIT CRAZY.
I whole heartedly believe he was attempting a coup – that is what so crazy about it. In this country and to think it would be sustainable. It’s just mind blowingly BONKERS. BAT SH** CRAZY. Nero in the flesh.
I agree, Seraphina, it is mind-blowing!
I wasn’t expecting to learn much new info from these trials because I’ve been paying close attention the entire time and a lot of my assumptions were right. I was wrong about trump wanting to go to the capital. I remember clearing watching on J6 live hearing trump say he’d be there with them and me saying out loud “no you wont.” I figured he was going to turn tail and leave them to suffer cause that’s the kind of scumbag he is. Him really wanting to go and be around his supporters, who he HATES, was shocking new information to me.
I am kind of amazed to see all these comments so mad at this woman. She’s going to be crucified on the MAGA side, probably death threats. She has more courage than all the guys pleading the 5th (looking at you GENERAL Flynn) and the guys completely ignoring the subpoenas. I’m not glorifying her, but holy crap you guys. We are shooting the messenger.
Why are we not more mad about the content of what she’s saying? Why are we not directing that anger at Trump and the people who were actually making decisions? She was an assistant. Literally conveying messages. I’d love it if we saved that vitriol for the people who actually played a part in the insurrection.
@Abby I agree! I am pretty disheartened coming on here today and seeing all of this. Of course, Trump and MAGA are calling her every name in the book/trashing her. But I didn’t expect to see this vitriolic reaction from people on the other side of the aisle. Truly sad.
And unfortunately, let’s say this was a Democrat President who tried this and she worked for him, the Republicans would show greater empathy and support. The Democrats need to learn how the Republicans stick together. They know – divide and conquer.
@Seraphina VERY good point! The Republicans excel at that! Sticking together, even in the face of something evil like Donald Trump!
@seraphina you make one of the most important points in my opinion. The repubs don’t let anything divide them – not a moron like drumpf, not an insurrection, NOTHING. They wavered the slightest bit at an attempted coup but almost immediately regrouped. It has proven to be very rewarding in advancing their agenda as we all have seen.
I just don’t understand why dems can’t see it and stand in solidarity at any and all costs (even when not in complete accord w/candidates). Unless the vote gets dems in with a solid and REAL majority (not relying on repubs in dems clothing i.e. manchin, sinema), I can’t see any significant changes happening. My 2 cents.
Yes, yes, yes, Abby. Don’t shoot the messenger for the message.
We always talk about MAGA as a cult. Which it IS!! So, to break free of it, IMO, takes courage. Why are we forgetting that now?
AmyB you have made the most important and poignant comment on this post here today. All those trashing her above NEED to see your comment and take heed. This woman has been brainwashed her entire life and broke ranks. We should be viewing her like we do Leah Remini, not as the villain our own sisters here are painting her out to be. I’m literally shaking my head and weeping at these commentors that are saying ‘so what she still sucks.’ I’m losing faith in my own side.
@Jules That is a perfect example – Scientology! Exactly. People like Leah Remini and Paul Haggis. Are we going to judge them for all the years they were in that cult, or applaud them for finally waking up and leaving??? I look at Hutchinson the same way.
I’m not mad at her but I completely understand why people are. This assistant may be a single administrative person, but when we consider the cumulative damage that this one man wrecking ball achieved, any silence screams for punishing consequences. Why? Because we’re human. We’ve known he was a royal shit his entire life, then when he demolished our peace and our democracy, complicitness coming clean doesn’t cut it.
I think the other people commenting make a solid point about not shooting the messenger. Almost 2/3 of the comments are attacking Cassidy Hutchinson for being complicit, for working for a Republican administration, for not doing more, arguing that she testified under a subpoena, she’s no hero…this gets old. Instead of focusing on what Cassidy testified about, commenters are literally focused on her.
I don’t think we should waste any time judging this woman, there are dozens of staffers, her testimony is what’s important
I’m not hailing Cassidy as a hero. That being said, she did do the right thing here. Could she have done so sooner? Yes.
But!
Imagine having direct knowledge of how the insurrection unfolded, who the players were, what their roles and actions were. Now imagine it was a vindictive, malignant narcissist/sociopath at the center of the coup. Coming forward with what you know would be scary enough with a personality like that involved.
Now imagine that narcissist/sociopath is the SITTING President of the United States. Speaking out against the POTUS would be absolutely frightening. Now imagine that narcissist/sociopathic President of the United States acts like a vengeful mob boss with a fleet of corrupt lawyers/thugs at his heel. Now imagine he has actual ties to organized crime and foreign powers. Now imagine there are numerous media outlets of are ready and willing to destroy the lives of anyone who may displease him. Now imagine he also has a rabid army of devout followers, many with LE/military ties or experience. Now imagine that he also has an entire political party who are ride or die for him.
Anyone. ANYONE would give pause for thought about testifying. Especially in such a public forum on live television.
Cassidy Hutchinson may not be a hero. She may have only done this to save herself from her own prison sentence. But it still took courage. Even if she walks away from this a free woman, she now has a target on her back. Why didn’t she come forward sooner? Sometimes it takes a while to gather enough courage to speak out.
I’m not comparing her to anyone else. I’m just saying it’s understandable why it took this long.
According to her bio, she is a first generation college graduate. Chances are good she did the same thing my granddaughter did after grad school, took the first job she could find with decent pay and health insurance and work your way up from there. She’s not been charged with anything. I’m only paying attention to the message right now. History can sort out Ms Hutchinson later.
For everyone maligning and criticizing her; would you prefer she NOT have testified publicly? Her doing so is a WIN for democracy. Let’s be glass half full here. I admire what she did. A bunch of 50 60 70 something MAGAs are peeing in their pants due to her courage. Embrace that. Bravo, Cassidy.
When push came to shove, she did the right thing: complying with the subpoena and answering all the questions completely.
That’s not a given as we have seen with some of the other witnesses.
If I were an American, I would be glad this woman testified. She has contributed to putting the pieces together of the whole evil mess. It wouldn’t be better if she hadn’t testified. She may not be a hero, but spitting on her testimony is rather counter-productive. Isn’t the testimony of all the Maga’s necessary to move forward toward necessary and appropriate punishment, justice, and balance for the country? As an outsider, I’m a bit shocked at some of the vitriol directed at this woman.
Agreed. American here. Better late than never, I say, and I wish and hope that others will follow her example.
Question for any US lawyers here: Given her testimony that DT said (ordered) to take away the mags, knowing that the rioters were armed, because they ‘weren’t there to hurt him’… is that enough to charge him with rebellion and insurrection vs sedition? The code states “incites, sets on foot, *ASSISTS*, or engages in”. (emphasis mine)
I ask because one bars him from ever running for US office again (rebellion). Seditious conspiracy actually has a longer prison time, but apparently *doesn’t* bar someone from running for office again.
Code found here:
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter115&edition=prelim
One of things that hasn’t been discussed, and it might be because if we say it out loud it makes it real, but why should we assume that this is over. The coup failed. How do we know there won’t be another one? One of the things that I keep going back and forth on (for two years now) is whether the objective is a civil war? The separation of powers as delineated under the Constitution has been all but been obliterated. The Extremists (I refuse to call them Republicans) hold sway. As long as they have the Senate to stop legislation which makes a Dem President pretty powerless, and the Supreme Court literally in their back pocket, we are in serious trouble. The Supreme Court is choosing which parts of the Constitution to use for their decisions. What I mean is that they have completed disregarded the separation of church and state clause as if it doesn’t exist. What’s next? I think we need to be paying close attention to what is happening here. This goes far beyond one coup. Add in the white supremists in LE and and military and the whole thing is just beyond scary.
You are right. I personally think our country as we know it is over. I have no idea what’s next but I think it will very, very dark indeed.
@ Saucy&Sassy
You make some really good points. I’m Canadian, so I’m an outsider looking in, but I agree that this probably isn’t over, and the U.S. that once was, is now gone :'(
I’m afraid that a bigger part of the coup was the supreme court. We are being taken over by religious extremists who, judging by the Environmental Protection Agency ruling,today, wants to hasten the end of the world. And that’s why they were willing to put up with tRump. God, I hope I’m wrong.
I know this will never happen, I know it’s a pipe dream, but I seriously wish the DOJ had the balls to charge all the members of the conspiracy with felony murder for that woman who got shot.
I saw a FB post that said, “So now we know Trump physically attacked a member of his own Secret Service just because he wouldn’t drive Trump where he wanted to go. Can there be any doubt of how Trump has behaved when women have hurt his ego by rejecting his sexual advances?” In my mind, there’s really no doubt. But then, I’ve always believed the allegations against him in that regard. He’s an immature, misogynistic, raging narcissist – he will do anything to get what he wants, and obviously he’s not above using violence to get it. What a sad excuse for a human being… and how revolting that he has millions of supporters who act like he’s the Second Coming.