Jump to content

Cassidy Hutchinson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by FixingYourEnglish (talk | contribs) at 14:44, 7 July 2022 (Added a missing apostrophe). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Cassidy Hutchinson
Born
Cassidy Jacqueline Hutchinson

Pennington, New Jersey, U.S.
EducationChristopher Newport University (BA)
OccupationFormer assistant to the White House Chief of Staff
Known forTestimony before the January 6 Committee
Political partyRepublican

Cassidy Jacqueline Hutchinson[1] is an American former White House aide and assistant to former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the Trump administration.[2][3]

Hutchinson testified on June 28, 2022, at the public hearings of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.[4][5] She provided testimony on President Donald Trump's conduct and that of his senior aides and political allies before and during the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Early life and education

Raised in Pennington, New Jersey,[6] Hutchinson graduated from Hopewell Valley Central High School in 2015.[1] She studied at Christopher Newport University between 2015 and 2018,[7] graduating in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.[8][9] Hutchinson describes herself as a "first-generation college student."[7][10]

Career

While attending Christopher Newport University, Hutchinson interned for Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Republican US House of Representatives whip Steve Scalise.[10][11][12][13] In the summer of 2018, she served as an intern and later an employee in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.[10]

In March 2020, when Mark Meadows became Trump's fourth chief of staff, he selected her to serve as one of his aides. She soon became Meadows' principal assistant, continuing through to the end of the Trump presidency, where her title was Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs.[14] She worked in an office next to Meadows' office, just down the hall from the Oval Office. She took notes at meetings and traveled with Meadows, monitoring his phone and relaying his orders.[15] She was described as a close confidante of Meadows.[3] Identified as a "White House legislative aide," Hutchinson was the subject of a nationally-syndicated AP photograph in which she was shown dancing to the Village People song "Y.M.C.A." alongside White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany at the end of Trump's September 21, 2020, campaign rally in Swanton, Ohio.[16]

When Trump's term ended, she was initially supposed to work for his post-presidency operation in Florida, but the plan was "abruptly dropped" before she was supposed to begin.[3][17]

January 6 Committee testimony

Main article: United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack public hearings § Sixth hearing — June 28, 2022

Hutchinson had given four depositions totaling more than two dozen hours to the committee prior to testifying on live television on June 28, 2022.[15] Prior to her March 7 deposition, she received multiple messages from Trump allies suggesting she demonstrate loyalty to Trump in her testimony.[18][19][20] Days before her testimony, she dismissed her attorney, Stefan Passantino, who had deep connections with Trump associates, replacing him with Jody Hunt, a former longtime Justice Department official and chief of staff for Trump's first attorney general, Jeff Sessions.[21]

On events leading to January 6

During the June 28 sworn testimony,[22] Hutchinson testified that she had overheard mention of Oath Keepers and Proud Boys during planning of the January 6 Trump rally, when Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani was present.[23] Several leaders of both groups were later indicted on seditious conspiracy charges for their alleged roles in the January 6 attack.

Hutchinson testified that both Meadows and Giuliani sought presidential pardons.[24] She previously told the committee in depositions that congressmen Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Scott Perry and Louie Gohmert had also requested pardons.[25]

She testified that on January 3, 2021, White House counsel Pat Cipollone pulled her aside to express his concern upon hearing Trump planned to march to the Capitol with his supporters on January 6; Hutchinson recalled him saying, "We're going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen."[26]

Hutchinson also revealed in her testimony that Trump threw his lunch plate against a wall in a White House dining room on December 1, 2020, when he learned that Attorney General William Barr had made a public statement that he had not discovered any evidence of election fraud.[27] The wall was splashed with ketchup.[27] On other occasions, he had "flip[ped] the tablecloth to let all the contents of the table go onto the floor and likely break or go everywhere".[27]

On January 6 events

Hutchinson testified that Trump and Meadows were told some individuals were carrying weapons, including firearms, and therefore could not clear magnetometers to enter the rally. Trump insisted that he didn't care if his supporters had weapons and tried to order the magnetometers removed, saying "They're not here to hurt me."[28] The committee played radio transmissions of police warning of people with guns, including AR-15s.[24]

Hutchinson testified she had been told by then-White House deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato that after Trump got into the presidential SUV following his rally, hoping to drive to the Capitol as his supporters marched there, his lead Secret Service agent Robert Engel told him it was too dangerous and informed him they were returning to the White House. Hutchinson said Ornato told her Trump became irate and attempted to grab the steering wheel of the vehicle, and lunged at Engel's clavicles.[24] She testified Engel was present with Ornato as he related the incident but never contradicted the account.[29] CNN reported three days after Hutchinson's testimony that it had spoken with two Secret Service agents who had heard accounts of the incident from multiple other agents since February 2021, including Trump's driver. Although details differed, agents confirmed there was an angry confrontation, with one agent relating that Trump "tried to lunge over the seat — for what reason, nobody had any idea," but no one asserted Trump attacked Engel. A separate Secret Service official told CNN that Engel denied that Trump grabbed at the steering wheel or lunged toward an agent on his detail, and that Ornato denied telling Hutchinson such.[30] Politico reported the same day that Engel told the committee during an early 2022 deposition that he had kept his full account of the incident from his Secret Service colleagues for at least fourteen months.[31]

As the events of the day unfolded, Hutchinson recalled White House counsel Pat Cipollone telling Meadows words to the effect of, "Mark, we need to do something more.[24] "They're literally calling for the vice president to be f'ing hung. And Mark had responded something to the effect of, you heard him, Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn't think they're doing anything wrong, to which Pat said something, this is f'ing crazy, we need to be doing something more."[32]

References

  1. ^ a b "HOPEWELL VALLEY: High school presents awards". CentralJersey.com. June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  2. ^ Levine, Mike; Faulders, Katherine (June 28, 2022). "Former Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson to testify at Jan. 6 hearing, sources say". ABC News. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Haberman, Maggie (June 28, 2022). "Cassidy Hutchinson Stuns With Testimony About Trump on Jan. 6". The New York Times. p. A14. Retrieved June 28, 2022. She was 22 years old, a rising college senior who went to work as a summer intern in the Trump White House in 2018.
  4. ^ Wagner, John; Alemany, Jacqueline (June 28, 2022). "Former Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson expected to testify at surprise hearing". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  5. ^ Broadwater, Luke; Haberman, Maggie (June 28, 2022). "Jan. 6 Panel to Hear From Meadows Aide on 'Recently Obtained Evidence' - Cassidy Hutchinson, who has provided the committee with important testimony behind closed doors, publicly testified on June 28, 2022 as a key witness". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  6. ^ Merchant, Nomaan; Tucker, Eric (June 29, 2022). "Cassidy Hutchinson, a N.J. Native and Trump White House Aide, Now in the Spotlight". Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Olmstead, Molly (June 9, 2022). "Who Is Cassidy Hutchinson?". Slate.
  8. ^ Pengelly, Martin (June 28, 2022). "Cassidy Hutchinson: who is the ex-aide testifying in the January 6 hearings?". The Guardian.
  9. ^ "Christopher Newport University Commencement Exercises" (PDF). Christopher Newport University. May 11, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c McGuire, Brian (November 5, 2021). "A Captain in the 'People's House'". Christopher Newport University. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  11. ^ McCarthy, Bill; Sherman, Amy; Stepnick, Hana (June 28, 2022). "What is Jan. 6 witness Cassidy Hutchinson's background?". PolitiFact. Poynter Institute. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  12. ^ Olmstead, Molly (June 9, 2022). "The Jan. 6 Hearing's Most Damning Testimony Could Come From a Twentysomething Former Trump Aide". Slate. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  13. ^ Feinberg, Andrew (June 28, 2022). "Cassidy Hutchinson: Who is ex-Meadows aide testifying before January 6 committee?". The Independent. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  14. ^ Karni, Annie (July 1, 2022). "The 20-Somethings Who Help the 70-Somethings Run Washington". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  15. ^ a b Kranish, Michael; Dawsey, Josh; Alemany, Jacqueline; Scott, Eugene (June 28, 2022). "Cassidy Hutchinson's path from trusted insider to explosive witness". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  16. ^ Colvin, Jill (October 21, 2020). "Trump the dancer? His moves to 'YMCA' at rallies are a hit". WPMI. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 29, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
  17. ^ @realDonaldTrump. "I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, ..." Truth Social. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022. I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, other than I heard very negative things about her (a total phony and "leaker"), and when she requested to go with certain others of the team to Florida after my having served a full term in office, I personally turned her request down. Why did she want to go with us if she felt we were so terrible? I understand that she was very upset and angry that I didn't want her to go, or be a member of the team. She is bad news!
  18. ^ Hunt, Kasie; Nobles, Ryan; Cohen, Zachary (June 30, 2022). "Hutchinson was 1 of the witnesses Trump world sought to influence, sources say". CNN.
  19. ^ Thrush, Glenn; Broadwater, Luke; Schmidt, Michael S. (June 29, 2022). "Hutchinson Testimony Exposes Tensions Between Parallel Jan. 6 Inquiries". The New York Times.
  20. ^ Woodruff Swan, Betsy; Cheney, Kyle (June 30, 2022). "New details of Jan. 6 panel's mystery messages emerge". Politico.
  21. ^ Woodruff Swan, Betsy (June 9, 2022). "Hutchinson, former Meadows aide, replaces lawyer on cusp of Jan. 6 hearings". Politico.
  22. ^
  23. ^ Hartmann, Margaret (June 29, 2022). "The Most Explosive Revelations From Cassidy Hutchinson's Testimony". Intelligencer. New York City: Vox Media, LLC. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  24. ^ a b c d Vogt, Adrienne; Hammond, Elise; Sangal, Aditi; Macaya, Melissa; Hayes, Mike (June 28, 2022). "Jan. 6 committee holds sixth hearing". CNN. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  25. ^ Woodward, Sam (June 28, 2022). "Who is Cassidy Hutchinson, the Meadows aide who testified before Congress?". CNN.
  26. ^ Feuer, Alan; Thrush, Glenn (June 28, 2022). "Cassidy Hutchinson's Testimony Highlights Legal Risks for Trump". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  27. ^ a b c Seddiq, Oma (June 28, 2022). "Trump threw dishes and flipped tablecloths 'several times' in the White House, ex-aide Cassidy Hutchinson testifies". Business Insider. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  28. ^ "Former aide Cassidy Hutchinson testifies on Jan. 6 warnings, pardon requests, and Trump trying to grab the wheel". CBS News. June 29, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  29. ^ Beitsch, Rebecca (June 22, 2022). "Secret Service pledges response to Trump motorcade allegations". The Hill.
  30. ^ Gray, Noah; Cohen, Zachary (July 1, 2022). "Accounts of Trump angrily demanding to go to Capitol on January 6 circulated in Secret Service over past year". CNN.
  31. ^ Cheney, Kyle (July 1, 2022). "The Secret Service agent at the center of that anecdote about a fuming Donald Trump didn't tell colleagues about his Jan. 6 experience for at least 14 months, he's testified". Politico.
  32. ^ Here's every word from the sixth Jan. 6 committee hearing on its investigation, National Public Radio, June 28, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cassidy_Hutchinson&oldid=1096924815"