Key moments from Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony
Today’s hearing by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riot at the Capitol is the first since late June.
The latest hearing on June 28 included testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
These are the highlights of her testimony:
Hutchinson was “frightened” by the January 6 plans
Hutchinson said she was “dismayed” by the White House’s plans for Jan. 6.
After a Jan. 2 meeting between Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani, Giuliani told Hutchinson that the 6th would be a “big day,” she testified.
“We’re going to the Capitol, it’s going to be great,” Giuliani told her, adding that then-President Donald Trump would be there with members of Congress and “look powerful.”
Meadows later told her that “things could get really, really bad on January 6th.”
“Tonight was the first time I remember feeling scared and nervous about what might happen on January 6,” she told the Committee.
Trump knew those present had weapons
Hutchinson said the White House was aware that members of the right-wing extremist groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers would attend Trump’s Jan. 6 rally.
“I remember hearing the word Oath Keeper and Proud Boys closer to planning the January 6th rally when [Rudy] Giuliani would have been around,” Hutchinson said.
Metro and Capitol police said people at the rally had multiple weapons, including firearms. She said Meadows and Trump were not concerned that these people were going through magnetometers with guns.
Hutchinson said she heard the president plead to “let my people go” as they “march to the Capitol after the rally is over.” Trump wanted attendees to attend the official rally space and encouraged them to go to the Capitol.
He also wants the Secret Service to remove the magnetometers.
Hutchinson testified that Trump said, “I don’t care that they have guns. They are not here to hurt me. Take the fucking magazines away…then they can march on the Capitol.”
Trump engaged in a physical altercation in a limo
Former President Donald Trump was involved in a physical altercation in the presidential limousine after learning he would not be driven to the Capitol on Jan. 6, Hutchinson testified.
Trump was “furious” when he learned he was being taken to the White House instead of the Capitol after delivering his speech.
Tony Ornato, assistant director of the U.S. Secret Service’s Office of Training, told Hutchinson that Trump “said something like, ‘I’m the debilitating president. Take me to the Capitol now’
When Trump’s security officials refused, Trump allegedly “reached toward the front of the vehicle to grab the steering wheel,” Hutchinson said.
Trump then “used his free hand to lunge at Bobby Engel,” Trump’s head of security.
Tuesday’s hearing revealed that Trump and his allies knowingly pushed a fraudulent scheme to overturn the election and failed to prevent and stop the violence at the Capitol.
4️⃣ minute review of Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/xa3LPYXlAA
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) July 3, 2022
White House counsel has warned Trump against visiting the Capitol
A former White House adviser has warned Trump about the legal ramifications of his visit to the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“Mr. Cipollone said something like, ‘please make sure we don’t go up to the Capitol. We will be charged with every crime imaginable if we make this visit,” she said.
Hutchinson also said Cipollone was concerned that Trump’s visit to the Capitol that day would “look like we’re obstructing justice or obstructing the Electoral College count” and “inciting or encouraging a riot.”
Cipollone urged Meadows to take action to stop the people from storming the Capitol.
Hutchinson said Cipollone told Meadows that if he didn’t do something, people would die and “your hands would be covered in blood.”
When Cipollone said the rioters were chanting “hang Mike Pence,” Meadows said Trump thought Pence “deserved it” and that the rioters were doing nothing wrong.
“As an American, I was disgusted,” Hutchinson said of the moment. “It was unpatriotic. It was un-American. We watched as the Capitol building was defaced because of a lie.”
Trump’s allies demanded pardons
Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows expressed interest in receiving presidential pardons in connection with the events that unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, Cassidy Hutchinson testified Tuesday.
Hutchinson said Trump wanted to include language in the statement about potentially granting presidential pardons to insurgents.
“I understand that Mr. Meadows has also encouraged this language,” she said.
Asked by committee co-chair Liz Cheney, Hutchinson said both Giuliani and Meadows had asked Trump for a pardon.
The Trump Cabinet discussed the 25th Amendment
Senior Trump administration officials have held talks about invoking the 25th Amendment since the events of Jan. 6, Hutchinson testified.
Since the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, there have been discussions within the Trump administration about “taking away the full power of the presidency from Donald Trump,” said committee Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo contacted former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to inform him of the talk he was hearing about the 25th Amendment.
Pompeo told Meadows that “if the talks move forward, you have to be ready to take action on that,” adding that he was “concerned” about him and his position, Hutchinson said.
Some witnesses reported intimidation
During his closing remarks, Cheney said the committee had received reports of witness tampering from people close to Trump.
One witness, whom Cheney did not identify, said they were told “as long as I continue to be a team player, they know I’m on the team, doing the right thing, protecting who I need to protect, you know, I’m going to stay in good graces in Trump’s world.”
That witness added that the person who spoke with them “reminded me several times that Trump does read transcripts and just to keep that in mind as I continued with my testimony and interviews with the committee.”
Another witness told the committee they received a phone call before their testimony in which the person on the other end of the line said: “[A person] let me know you have your testimony tomorrow. He wants me to tell you that he’s thinking about you. He knows you are loyal and will do the right thing when you testify.”
“I think most Americans know that trying to influence witnesses to testify falsely is a very serious problem,” Cheney said.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a top former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testifies during the sixth hearing held by the Special Commission to Investigate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol on June 28, 2022, at the Cannon Office Building House in Washington, DC. Andrew Harnick-Pool/Getty Images
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