The Jan. 6 committee hosts its sixth public hearing Tuesday, a decision that arived at the 11th hour in large part due to security threats posed to the day’s chief witness: Cassidy Hutchinson.
Hutchinson once served as an aide to former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows. This position permitted a unique vantage point into the happenings inside the Trump White House and, the committee argues, it has been her cooperation that has better illuminated how the 45th president and his allies in Congress rallied behind a bid to usurp the will of millions of voters and overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The former White House aide has testified that at least six Republican lawmakers sought pardons from Trump before and after Jan. 6 in hopes of avoiding any possible criminal charges they might face later. And she has offered some—albeit scant—details on an advance warning of violence that Meadows received from the Secret Service a few days before the Capitol assault.
Her testimony will unfold live Tuesday and a stream is available below. Additional hearings are to come in July, but an exact schedule has yet to be announced.
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Hutchinson’s testimony has been major and paints a bleak picture of how close Trump came to wreaking even further chaos at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
The major takeaways from the first hour of today’s hearing have been the moment Hutchinson described a temper tantrum Trump had as he and members of his security team and staff sped away from the Ellipse. Security sought to take him back to the White House but Trump wasn’t having it.
The former president was insistent on going to the Capitol, having told his supporters during his hourlong speech littered with threatening language just moments before that he would join them there and that they should “fight” to secure his victory.
Tuesday, Jun 28, 2022 · 6:27:55 PM +00:00 · April Siese
During Tuesday’s hearing, Cheney played footage showing her questioning Mike Flynn on whether the violence on Jan. 6 was justified and whether he believed in a peaceful transition of power. The former general and former Trump security advisor pleaded the Fifth throughout his questioning.
Tuesday, Jun 28, 2022 · 6:57:21 PM +00:00 · Brandi Buchman
As today’s hearing comes to a close and Meadows' former aide has appeared to tie Trump inarguably to the attack on the U.S. Capitol and a direct failure to quell the violence when given the chance, we also learn from investigators that witnesses have been pressured by the former president before they appear.