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US Capitol East Facade
Most of us thought Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin, a constitutional law professor, was foolishly overpromising when he predicted the publicly televised hearings of the bipartisan House Jan. 6 Committee would “blow the roof off the House.” Then a young woman named Cassidy Hutchinson did just that.
The testimony by Hutchinson, the top aide to President Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, was described as “explosive,” “blockbuster” and “a bombshell” by news media across the political spectrum.
Even Fox News broadcast the hearing live with Bret Baier, the last legitimate news reporter at the pro-Trump propaganda network, accurately summarizing Hutchinson’s revelations about the actions of Trump and those around him on Jan. 6: “This testimony is stunning.”
It was also chilling, revealing Trump and other government officials knew in advance the raging, violent mob Trump sent to the Capitol to overthrow American democracy was heavily armed. Hutchinson said Trump not only tried to prevent Secret Service agents from confiscating those weapons but was angry he couldn’t be at the Capitol for the attack.
More Trump Lies
Trump’s eagerness to be directly involved in the attempted violent overthrow of the presidency should be the biggest issue every Republican candidate faces in November’s midterm elections and in the next presidential election. Trump continues to be the party’s leading candidate in 2024 despite being removed from office by the most opposition votes in American history.
As expected, Trump and his sycophants have viciously attacked Hutchinson, a Republican who previously worked for Sen. Ted Cruz and assistant House minority leader Steve Scalise. Hutchinson testified under oath only to events she witnessed or were described to her by Meadows, deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato and White House counsel Pat Cipollone. So far none of them have refuted any of her testimony under oath. Here’s why what she described was so devastating.
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Anyone attending a presidential speech since the assassinations of the 1960s knows crowds are required to go through metal detectors. Trump was the only president in modern history to try to prevent law enforcement from disarming the violent mob of supporters he’d summoned to Washington for his speech.
Heavily Armed Mob
Hutchinson testified Trump received a report that morning the mob was heavily armed with AR-15s, handguns, knives and flagpoles sharpened into spears. As a result, thousands of his armed supporters refused to go through magnetometer metal detectors into the area set aside for his speech because they didn’t want the Secret Service to confiscate their weapons. Trump was furious the area wasn’t packed.
“He was angry that we weren’t letting people through the mags with weapons,” said Hutchinson who was backstage. “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 … They can march to the Capitol from here.”
Trump was right, of course. The armed and dangerous were all his friends. They weren’t there to hurt him. They were there to murder Trump’s vice president Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and any member of Congress, Republican or Democrat, accurately certifying the presidential vote of the American people. Along the way, they used those weapons to seriously disable often with permanent brain damage more than 140 police officers protecting the Capitol.
The second most alarming conversation Hutchinson testified about involved Meadows and Cipollone after Trump was returned to the White House by the Secret Service. Trump was angry because agents refused to take him to Capitol to join the mob he’d sent to disrupt the joint session of Congress Pence was presiding over to certify Biden’s election.
Blood on his Hands
Hutchinson said Cipollone rushed into Meadows’s office urging action to stop the Capitol violence. “Mark looked up and said, ‘He doesn’t want to do anything, Pat.’” Cipollone responded: “Mark, something needs to be done or people are going to die and blood is going to be on your f-ing hands. This is getting out of control … They’re literally calling for the vice president to be hung.” Cipollone and Meadows went to the private dining room where Trump was watching the violence on television.
When they returned, Meadows was telling Cipollone, “You heard him, Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn’t think they’re doing anything wrong.” Hutchinson said Trump’s attitude was “The person who did something wrong that day was Mike Pence.”
Every hearing of the Jan. 6 Committee has laid out a clear, understandable narrative of exactly what happened on one of the worst days in the history of our democracy. Often the evidence they present comes in sworn testimony from Republican witnesses.
It’s now up to Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland and his prosecutors to punish Trump and his Republican co-conspirators for their crimes against democracy and the American voters to make sure they never hold public office again.
