Don't buy the BS
The GOP party line this week would like you to believe Hutchinson’s testimony is useless because it’s all hearsay. And that’s right, regarding the two least important and most salacious tidbits. But for the entrée, Hutchinson was a direct party or witness. This is not a trial and not subject to trial rules. The GOP itself opted out. This is a presentation of facts already investigated and decided for the benefit of the American Public because we’re either so stupid or so obstinate we look at the sun and call it the ocean.
*She said Trump was furious with his security officials, and she overheard him saying, “I don’t f- - -ing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me.”
*She recalled that in December 2020, when the AP published a piece in which Attorney General Bill Barr dismissed Trump’s election-fraud claims, she heard a noise in the Oval Office. She went to investigate and found the valet changing the tablecloth. “There was ketchup dripping down the wall and there was a shattered porcelain plate on the floor,” Hutchinson said. “The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney general’s AP interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall.”
*Trump approved hanging Mike Pence. After the riot was under way, Hutchinson testified that White House counsel Pat Cipollone barreled into Meadows’s office. Cipollone told Meadows they needed to speak to the president, but Meadows at first rebuffed him. “He doesn’t want to do anything about it,” she quoted her boss telling Cipollone. “Mark, something needs to be done or people are going to die and the blood will be on your effing hands,” Cipollone shot back. “I’m going down there.”
Meadows and Cipollone then walked a few steps over to the Oval Office dining room, and Hutchinson was in earshot. At the same time, Meadows was fielding a phone call from Republican lawmaker Jim Jordan.
Cipollone continued to press Meadows to get the president to call off his bloodthirsty supporters. “You heard him, Pat, he thinks Mike deserves it,” Hutchinson quoted Meadows telling Cipollone about what the two men just heard from Trump. “He doesn’t think they’re doing anything wrong.”
*On January 7, 2021, Trump put out a video in which he condemned the riot, calling it a “heinous attack.” Hutchinson said Trump didn’t think it was necessary to say anything beyond his two tweets on January 6, but a group of advisers, including Mark Meadows, Jared Kushner, and Ivanka Trump, convinced him to speak in an effort to head off any effort to remove him via the 25th Amendment.
Hutchinson testified that original drafts called the rioters violent and talked about prosecuting them, but Trump struck that language. The president “wanted to put that he wanted to potentially pardon them,” she said. “He didn’t think that they did anything wrong,” she said. “He thought … the person who did something wrong that day was Mike Pence by not standing with him.”
*It wasn’t just Trump who wanted to pardon the January 6 rioters; Hutchinson testified that Mark Meadows was pushing for that language to be included in Trump’s January 7 statement as well, but White House counsel advised against it.
Previous witnesses testified that a number of Trump associates sought pardons for their activities on January 6, including several members of Congress. Hutchinson testified that Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows both indicated that they were interested in being pardoned, too.
Not hearsay. Not 2nd hand. Not erasable.
*She said Trump was furious with his security officials, and she overheard him saying, “I don’t f- - -ing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me.”
*She recalled that in December 2020, when the AP published a piece in which Attorney General Bill Barr dismissed Trump’s election-fraud claims, she heard a noise in the Oval Office. She went to investigate and found the valet changing the tablecloth. “There was ketchup dripping down the wall and there was a shattered porcelain plate on the floor,” Hutchinson said. “The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney general’s AP interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall.”
*Trump approved hanging Mike Pence. After the riot was under way, Hutchinson testified that White House counsel Pat Cipollone barreled into Meadows’s office. Cipollone told Meadows they needed to speak to the president, but Meadows at first rebuffed him. “He doesn’t want to do anything about it,” she quoted her boss telling Cipollone. “Mark, something needs to be done or people are going to die and the blood will be on your effing hands,” Cipollone shot back. “I’m going down there.”
Meadows and Cipollone then walked a few steps over to the Oval Office dining room, and Hutchinson was in earshot. At the same time, Meadows was fielding a phone call from Republican lawmaker Jim Jordan.
Cipollone continued to press Meadows to get the president to call off his bloodthirsty supporters. “You heard him, Pat, he thinks Mike deserves it,” Hutchinson quoted Meadows telling Cipollone about what the two men just heard from Trump. “He doesn’t think they’re doing anything wrong.”
*On January 7, 2021, Trump put out a video in which he condemned the riot, calling it a “heinous attack.” Hutchinson said Trump didn’t think it was necessary to say anything beyond his two tweets on January 6, but a group of advisers, including Mark Meadows, Jared Kushner, and Ivanka Trump, convinced him to speak in an effort to head off any effort to remove him via the 25th Amendment.
Hutchinson testified that original drafts called the rioters violent and talked about prosecuting them, but Trump struck that language. The president “wanted to put that he wanted to potentially pardon them,” she said. “He didn’t think that they did anything wrong,” she said. “He thought … the person who did something wrong that day was Mike Pence by not standing with him.”
*It wasn’t just Trump who wanted to pardon the January 6 rioters; Hutchinson testified that Mark Meadows was pushing for that language to be included in Trump’s January 7 statement as well, but White House counsel advised against it.
Previous witnesses testified that a number of Trump associates sought pardons for their activities on January 6, including several members of Congress. Hutchinson testified that Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows both indicated that they were interested in being pardoned, too.
Not hearsay. Not 2nd hand. Not erasable.
