Eyewitness
What happened inside the White House
At yesterday’s Congressional hearing, the Jan. 6th committee heard from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson a set of remarkable details about Donald Trump’s role in the event, including his advance knowledge there would be violence, and his intense anger at being prevented from going to the riot himself.
When his security detail refused to drive him to the Capitol, according to Hutchison, a furious Trump tried to grab the wheel of his vehicle and also reached toward the throat of a Secret Service agent as if to choke him.
After Trump was forced to go back to the White House, in the dining room he threw his plate of lunch at the wall, breaking the plate and leaving ketchup dripping down the wall. Hutchinson helped the President’s valet clean up the mess.
In the days and weeks leading up to the riot, Hutchinson was both told directly by senior officials and overheard conversations that the crowd on Jan. 6th would be armed and dangerous. When the president was about to address the crowd that morning, many of the marchers refused to go through the metal detectors surrounding the vicinity of the stage because they were carrying weapons.
Those who did enter were disarmed and many weapons were confiscated by security officials. This angered Trump, who wanted the crowd to be allowed to keep their weapons for the assault on Congress. “They’re not here to hurt me,” he declared.
At yesterday’s hearing, the committee also heard more about the “war room” set up by Trump associates at the Willard Hotel to coordinate the events during the riot. And how some senior officials including Cabinet members resigned upon learning of Trump’s comment “Mike deserves it” when the mob was hunting Pence and chanting “Hang Mike Pence.”
The overall legal impact of this hearing was to strengthen the evidentiary trail that Trump and certain of his top aides were involved in the planning and execution of the events of Jan. 6th. In the process, Cassidy Hutchinson emerged as one of the heroes from this sad, dark day in American history.
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In brighter news, my grandson Oliver’s little league team won the district championship Tuesday night in San Jose with a convincing 18-0 victory so they now move on the sectional round next month. Ollie went 2 for 2 with a walk in the victory.
TODAY’s LINKS (38):
'This is a bombshell': Trump aides left speechless by Hutchinson testimony (CNN)
How the Jan. 6 panel's star witness drew a roadmap for Trump’s culpability (Politico)
January 6 hearings: Trump urged armed supporters to storm Capitol - aide (BBC)
Trump’s fury on display at Jan. 6 hearing. Key takeaways from explosive day of testimony from former White House aide (CNBC)
What are 'mags,' and why did ex-Meadows aide bring them up at the Jan. 6 hearings? (USA Today)
Who is Cassidy Hutchinson, the surprise witness at Tuesday's Jan. 6 panel hearing? (NPR)
Did Cassidy Hutchinson Just Hand the Jan. 6 Committee Its ‘Smoking Gun’? (Politico)
The Most Damning January 6 Testimony Yet (Atlantic)
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I’m in fear for our country!
Congratulations to Oliver and his team. Nice to hear some good news.
I hope Cassidy has a lot of protection!