Cassidy Hutchinson and the January 6 Committee Hatchet Job - Part Two
Just when you thought this political sideshow could not get worse, it does
Part One of this two part article outlined some of the problems with the January 6 Committee, formally known as the “Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol,” and its misuse of the statements of a young Trump White House staffer, Cassidy Hutchinson, about events that supposedly transpired in and around January 6, 2021. Unfortunately, there are more problems with Hutchinson and how the J6 Committee used her. In fact, a lot more.
Readers will recall during a televised appearance before the J6 Committee on June 28, 2022, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson made several claims about President Trump’s conduct on January 6, 2021, including claiming President Trump attacked the driver of his limousine (the limo is known as “the beast”) and lunged at the wheel when he learned his Secret Service detail was not taking him to the U.S. Capitol after his speech.
Part One covered the fact that Hutchinson did not witness any of these events and that she did not even talk to anyone who supposedly witnessed the events. Part One also covered the fact her story was disputed by the person who supposedly told her in the first place (Tony Ornato) and by the Secret Service agent driving for President Trump that day. There are more problems with Hutchinson’s “story.” Let’s take a look at a few.
President Trump Was Not in “The Beast” after His January 6 Speech
Again, Hutchinson claimed President Trump became angry and physically violent when he learned his Secret Service detail was not taking him to the Capitol after his speech at The Ellipse on January 6, 2021. Another problem with Hutchinson’s story is she claimed the “altercation” between President Trump and his Secret Service detail occurred in the presidential limousine known as “The Beast.” She specifically referenced “The Beast” in her statement. See transcript. “The Beast” is a bulletproof presidential limousine. Here is a screenshot from the transcript of Hutchinson’s “testimony:”
The problem is President Trump did not leave his speech at the Ellipse on January 6, 2021, in “The Beast,” the presidential limousine. He left in an SUV. See House Subcommittee Report and Politifact. (In true Fake News fashion, Politifact uses the fact President Trump did not leave The Ellipse in “The Beast” on January 6, 2021, to “fact check” others, not Hutchinson.)
Here is a screenshot from a C-Span video of President Trump in an SUV as he leaves the Ellipse on January 6, 2021 (the video was played by the J6 Committee during the June 28, 2022, production):
Clearly, President Trump did not get in a limousine (that is, he did not get in “The Beast”) after giving his speech on January 6. Why would the J6 Committee promote the obviously false claim the President was in “The Beast” when he clearly was not? Are we to believe the J6 Committee members did not know that claim was incorrect? That is a very basic fact to foul up and further undermines Hutchinson’s silly claims.
More Credibility Problems for Hutchinson
During her June 2022 made-for-TV-production before the January 6 Committee, Hutchinson also claimed she was “disgusted” by what she claimed was President Trump’s “un-American conduct” all stemming from his “lies” about the stolen election? See transcript. Was this truly how she felt? Probably not. Here is more of what the J6 Committee did not tell you.
Text messages obtained from various different conservative activists who exchanged texts with Cassidy Hutchinson on and after January 6, 2021, and before her televised appearance before the J6 Committee on June 28, 2022, tell a very different story. The Federalist published a terrific article outlining Hutchinson’s previous communications about J6 and Trump:
In one text sent three months after January 6, 2021, Hutchinson wrote, “I would rather shoot myself dead into the Potomac than see marine one flying around without 45 again.” (President Trump was the 45th President of the United States.)
After being subpoenaed to appear before the J6 Committee in November 2021, she referred to the committee as a “phony committee” in a text.
In private communications after the election, Hutchinson used the phrase “STOP THE STEAL.” She even went so far as to claim she called herself “an insurrectionist” when someone asked her about her “45” t-shirt. See The Federalist and Townhall:
Hutchinson also referred to Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger (the Republican House members who agreed to serve on the J6 Committee without the consent of House Republican Leadership) as a “crop of losers.”
Along these same lines, Daily Caller published additional text messages between Cassidy Hutchinson and conservative activist at the American Conservative Union she referred to the committee’s subpoena on her and the process generally as “bs.”
The January 6 Committee Probably Had Hutchinson’s Texts
Making matters worse, the J6 Committee probably had Cassidy Hutchinson’s text messages. Return to the transcript of her scripted, TV appearance before the J6 Committee on June 28, 2022 and you will note repeated references by Rep. Liz Cheney to different text messages to and from Hutchinson. Furthermore, the J6 Committee consistently ran rough shod over the rights of literally dozens and dozens of people by compelling the production of phone records. See CNN:
This Soviet style political abuse led to numerous lawsuits by various people trying to protect their privacy. See AZMirror (AZ GOP chair sues to block J6 phone records subpoena), KESQ News (Professor John Eastmans sues to block J6 phone records subpoena), NBC News (Sebastian Gorka sues to block J6 phone records subpoena) and The Hill (Stephen Miller sues to block J6 phone records subpoena), to name a few. You can bet your bile duct they had Hutchinson’s text messages.
Furthermore, the J6 Committee did not even reach out the Secret Service for corroboration or comment on Hutchinson’s claims before presenting her at the June 28, 2022 committee hearing. See Politico:
As noted in Part One, the Secret Service member driving the President’s SUV after his speech on January 6, 2021, and Tony Ornato, Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, who supposedly told this entire fable to Hutchinson deny any such events took place. The J6 Committee did not even talk to these witnesses until several months AFTER the June 2022 hearing wherein Hutchinson’s ridiculous claims were aired. The Secret Service member who drove the SUV was interviewed by the J6 Committee on November 7, 2022, and Tony Ornato was interviewed on November 29, 2022. When both of these eyewitnesses denied Hutchinson’s silly tale was true, the J6 Committee essentially buried their testimony. The J6 Committee’s misconduct lends credibility to Mark Twain’s old quip, “Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story.”
Even More Problems with Hutchinson: The Note, Giuliani and WH Counsel
During her prime-time TV performance, Cassidy Hutchinson claimed she wrote a note which was displayed by Republican turncoat Liz Cheney. Hutchinson claimed the note was written down by her at the request of White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows as he dictated it to her. The problem is former Trump White House attorney Eric Herschmann already stated to the J6 Committee that he wrote the note. See ABC News:
The ABC News article quotes a spokesperson for the J6 Committee who acknowledged the two witnesses have “different recollections” about who wrote the note. If the J6 Committee had any credibility at all, this issue would have been addressed by the witness during her appearance on its TV program or her testimony would not have been presented at all.
Additionally, Hutchinson claimed in her TV presentation that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani strategized with Trump Justice Department official Jeff Clark, but that is disputed as well. See American Greatness.
Hutchinson also claimed she was told by White House Counsel Pat Cippollone on the morning of January 6, 2021 to tell her boss, Mark Meadows, to tell President Trump not to go the Capitol after his speech. (I find it unfathomable I had to type that last sentence. Hutchinson “testified,” using that term lightly in the context of this ridiculous sideshow of hearing, that someone told her to tell someone else to tell yet another person to do something. What a disgraceful bunch of garbage to be paraded before the Country as though it were credible evidence.) That claim is disputed as well, as some WH staffers state Pat Cippollone was not at the White House that morning. See Breitbart:
How about this: Did you know Cassidy Hutchinson continued working for President Trump for over two months after Trump left the White House? She did. She worked for him for 9 weeks after he left the WH. See Business Insider:
If President Trump was so bad, why did Cassidy Hutchinson continue to work for him for over two months after he left the White House?
There are more disputes and discrepancies, but the point is made. This person’s blabbering “testimony” was no bombshell. It was bunk and hogwash and should never have seen the light of day. Hutchinson and the way her contrived balderdash was manipulated and presented by the January 6 Committee speaks volumes about the Committee itself.
The January 6 Committee itself was far worse than any remonstrations from this young White House staffer. While it most certainly was bunk and hogwash, the J6 Committee also employed Soviet-like, strong arm tactics to coerce, cajole, intimidate and otherwise trample on the rights of many of the Americans ensnared in its illegitimate “net.” The threat to our Republic was not Donald J. Trump. It was the J6 Committee. Remember that the next time you hear Liz Cheney spew more of her hateful rhetoric.
(My new book Fake News Exposed: 25 of the Worst Media Lies about Conservatives, Guns, COVID and Everything Else is out at Amazon. You may also pick up a copy of one of my other books at Amazon as well.)