At the unexpected hearing on Tuesday, the House committee looking into the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, is expected to hear from a former adviser to Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s chief of staff.
Cassidy Hutchinson, who also worked for Trump as a special assistant, has already testified numerous times behind closed doors, disclosing that House Republicans who supported Trump’s effort to rig the 2020 election were looking for presidential pardons. CNN reports that Hutchinson has claimed that Trump himself told Meadows during the uprising that he agreed with their demands to “hang Mike Pence.”
Punchbowl News was the first outlet to break the news of Hutchinson’s appearance. The committee had previously planned a surprise hearing on Tuesday to “present recently obtained material” and “accept witness testimony.” Prior to the House’s July 4 recess, the panel had previously said that it would not hold any more hearings.
It is unknown if Hutchinson will be joined on Tuesday by additional live witnesses. Hutchinson’s safety was said to be a concern, according to Punchbowl News. According to CNN, new security measures will be in place during the hearing on Tuesday.
Hutchinson had been hailed as a crucial witness in the run-up to the committee’s first open hearings in early June.
According to Norm Eisen, senior scholar at the Brookings Institution and a lawyer for House Democrats during Trump’s first impeachment trial, “Cassidy Hutchinson might turn out to be the next John Dean.”
Dean, the White House lawyer for President Richard Nixon, rose to prominence during the House Watergate hearings after disclosing publicly his knowledge of Nixon’s involvement in the affair.
Hutchinson’s prior testimony, during which she was questioned about whether any members of Congress had requested presidential pardons, had previously been shown on video by the committee. Hutchinson claimed that the requests for them came from Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), and Scott Perry (R-Pa.).
Since early December, “Mr. Gaetz was personally lobbying for a pardon,” according to Hutchinson. “I don’t know why,”
According to a video played during the hearing on June 21, the former assistant also recalled that Meadows, Trump, and Rudy Giuliani were among those involved in discussions about a scheme pushing fake presidential electors around Thanksgiving in 2020. Meadows and Giuliani are two Trump supporters who disobeyed committee subpoenas issued on January 6.
Hutchinson’s testimony was also shown during the hearing on Thursday, which focused on Trump’s pressure on the Department of Justice to support his election fraud. The testimony revealed that Rep. Perry lobbied for Trump to appoint Jeff Clark as attorney general.
Hutchinson stated, “He wanted Mr. Clark, Mr. Jeff Clark, to run the Justice Department.
According to Politico, Hutchinson claimed she witnessed Meadows burn documents at a meeting with Perry in the weeks following the 2020 election. According to a court document from April, she also claimed Meadows had been informed the “Stop the Steal” event scheduled for January 6 in Washington could degenerate into violence.
According to a Reuters article dated March 2021, Hutchinson called Jordan Fuchs, Georgia’s deputy secretary of state, after the 2020 election to inquire if there was anything the White House could do to show appreciation for the audit of absentee ballot signatures.
an inquiry into whether Trump violated the law by influencing state officials to invalidate the results of the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia.
Politico reported earlier this month that Hutchinson had replaced her Trump-aligned counsel with Jody Hunt, who had previously worked for Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions. Her alleged enhanced willingness to assist with the investigation was suggested by the action.
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According to Punchbowl News Within the previous 10 days, Hutchinson testified to the committee on January 6.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md. ), a panel member, was questioned about Hutchinson’s role in the days leading up to the panel’s first public session. Hutchinson addressed the panel in private, but he wouldn’t go into specifics, and he told Washington Post Live that several young individuals who understood what was going on had come forward.
You will see other junior staff members who have come forward and actively helped with this inquiry into this attack on our country, and she is unquestionably someone who gave truthful testimony to our committee, Raskin added.
According to a court document, federal investigators reportedly took John Eastman’s smartphone last week because he was counseling Trump on plans to rig the election. This suggests that a criminal investigation is advancing concurrently with the House panel’s investigation.
