Which do you think is worse – grabbing a woman by the crotch, or grabbing a Secret Service agent by the clavicle? Discuss!
Was the latest Jan. 6 hearing a humdinger or what? Kudos to Cassidy Hutchinson, who, as a seasoned Republican aide at the tender age of 25, had inadvertently wangled a front-row seat for the Fascist Follies – yet had somehow survived that crime scene with her head on straight, tapping her memory under oath for the benefit of our sickened citizenry.
As the Irish would say, what a shite show it was. But what great grist for the HBO miniseries writers’ room.
We got the scene where Trump wanted the biggest possible rally crowd early on Jan. 6, even if some of his saps were armed to the teeth with guns and other instruments of death. Magnetometers (“mags”) had been set up to weed out the locked and loaded, but, boy oh boy, was the ’20 election loser pissed about that. Hutchinson quoted him: “I don’t fucking care that they have weapons! They’re not here to hurt me! Take the fucking mags away!”
We got the scene where Trump hopped back in his limo after the rally speech, fully intending to accompany the rabble on their violent mission – only to be told by his Service Agent chief that he was being driven back to the White House because the Capitol march wasn’t safe…whereupon he yelled “I’m the fucking president of the United States, take me up to the Capitol now!” and from his backseat perch tried to grab the steering wheel…whereupon his SS guy said, “Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel”…whereupon Trump lunged at the SS guy, aiming for his clavicle.
Yes, folks, this lowlife assaulted his own security team.
But let’s move on. We got the scene where Hutchinson – at the White House, in the early morning of Jan. 6 – tried to alert her boss, chief of staff Mark Meadows, about the latest intel of violence: “I remember Mark distinctly, not looking up from his phone. He said, ‘All right, anything else?’ Still looking down at his phone.”
We got the scene where Hutchinson, not long after, tried to warn Meadows, who was sitting in a car, that Capitol police officers were already under attack – and Meadows twice shut the car door in her face. Hutchinson dryly recalled: “He almost had a lack of reaction.”
We got the scene where Hutchinson, that same day, asked Meadows whether he had shared word with Trump about the brewing violence. In response, Meadows told her that Trump “wants to be alone right now.” White House counsel Pat Cipollone also pleaded with Meadows to alert Trump, but Meadows told him: “He doesn’t want to do anything, Pat.”
We got the scene – this happened prior to Jan 6 – where Cipollone begged Hutchinson to tell Meadows if Trump joined the storming of the Capitol, “we’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable” from obstruction of justice to defrauding the government.
We got the scene where Hutchinson heard some of the top dogs talking about the rioters’ determination to hang Mike Pence – but the word came down from on high that (in Meadows’ words) Trump “thinks that Mike deserves it.”
We got the scene where Trump puts out a tweet at 2:24 pm attacking Pence for not having the “courage” to help the coup. At this point in the inevitable miniseries, the camera should zoom in on the face of whoever plays Hutchinson, so that the actress can emote in accordance with Hutchinson’s recollection of seeing the tweet: “Really, it (Trump’s tweet) felt personal. As an American, I as disgusted. It was unpatriotic, it was un-American. We were watching the Capitol building getting defaced for a lie.”
And, for maximum dramaturgy, we got the scene of Trump, in December 2020, reacting to Attorney General Barr’s announcement that Trump’s election-fraud narrative had no basis in fact. Trump threw his lunch across the presidential dining room. Hutchinson recalled seeing “ketchup dripping down the wall, and a shattered porcelain plate.” Like a well-raised young lady, she “grabbed a towel” to help the valet clean up, but she wasn’t totally shocked, having become accustomed to previous reports of Trump “throwing dishes or flipping the tablecloth,” propelling the kitchenware “everywhere.”
Let’s see, what else…Oh right! She said under oath that Meadows had sought a pre-emptive pardon. She said under oath that Rudy Giuliani had sought a preemptive pardon. The committee also showed texted evidence that some Trump aides who’ve cooperated with the probe have been the targets of witness intimidation (yet another crime). And as a bonus, the committee aired a video clip of Michael Flynn, the short-lived Trump national security aide, refusing to say whether he believes in the peaceful transfer of power. Imagine taking the Fifth for that.
So what’s the upshot of today’s hearing, aside from learning that the MAGA cesspool was far deeper than we even knew? I’m compelled to linger on the image of Trump trying to grab that limo wheel, determined to lead his rioters, not caring whether or to what extent they were armed.
That’s the biggest revelation: He was not merely a passive TV-watcher that day. He was an active insurrectionist. Thank you, Cassie Hutchinson, for your service.