Civic Register
| 6.28.22
Meadows Aide Tells January 6th Committee That Trump Didn't Care That His Supporters May Be Armed
How do you feel about the January 6th hearings?
What’s the story?
- The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol held three public hearings over the last week, including a surprise hearing on June 28th that members had planned to occur after the end of the Fourth of July recess in mid-July.
- The hearing on June 21st focused on efforts by President Donald Trump to pressure state and local officials to change election results to tip the outcome in his favor; the June 23rd hearing featured Trump’s pressure on the Justice Dept. and requests for pardons; while the June 28th hearing centered on a Trump aide’s perspective on the lead up to and aftermath of January 6th, including what happened during the riot.
June 28th Hearing
- The select committee Cassidy Hutchinson, who was an aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified that Trump was angry at the Secret Service for requiring supporters at his rally on the Ellipse to go through magnetometers and be screened for weapons. She said that Trump claimed, “They’re not here to hurt me. Take the f---ing mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here.”
- She testified that Trump wanted to go to Capitol Hill on January 6th. Hutchinson testified that she heard secondhand that Trump was so insistent that he told Secret Service agents to drive there, and when they refused, Trump tried to grab the steering wheel and lunge to push an agent out of the way.
- Following her testimony, NBC’s Peter Alexander tweeted that a Secret Service agent told him the agent she named, Bobby Engel, and the presidential limousine driver are willing to testify under oath that the incident didn’t happen. That reporting was echoed by Fox New’s David Spunt who had another source.
- Trump disputed Hutchinson’s claims in a post on his social media platform. He denied the presidential limo incident and her claim that he threw his lunch at the wall in a fit of rage about the election.
- Hutchinson testified that members of the Cabinet were considering invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the powers of the presidency from Trump. She also said that Meadows and Rudy Giuliani requested pardons for their roles in the January 6th effort to overturn the election. She said both anticipated the scenes at the Capitol could turn bad in the days prior to January 6th.
- On the day of the riot, she said Meadows was often looking at his phone and largely unmoved as the January 6th riot unfolded. Hutchinson testified that she heard Meadows tell members of the White House legal team that Trump said the rioters who chanted “hang Mike Pence” weren’t doing anything wrong and Pence deserved it.
- Other Meadows aides, including Ben Williamson, pushed back on allegations that Meadows was indifferent about the initial violence at the Capitol. Williamson said he testified under oath that Meadows quickly reacted as the violence began.
- You can watch the full committee hearing here.
June 23rd Hearing
- The select committee heard testimony from officials in the White House Counsel’s office and Dept. of Justice (DOJ) regarding Trump’s plan to fire Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and replace him with Jeff Clark, who wished to aid the president’s plan to overturn the election results by using the DOJ’s resources. Rosen had moved into the acting attorney general role after former Attorney General Bill Barr resigned after resisting Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.
- Eric Herschmann, a White House legal adviser, testified that after Clark discussed his plan, he told him that “you just admitted your first step or act you would take as attorney general would be committing a felony.”
- The committee played video from the deposition of Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified that Reps. Mo Brooks (R-AL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Scott Perry (R-PA) requested presidential pardons for their role in coordinating efforts to raise objections and overturn election results.
- Brooks said he requested the pardon out of concern Democrats would try to prosecute Republicans who simply objected to election results. Biggs said that allegations he sought a pardon are false. Gohmert said he asked for pardons for other people unrelated to January 6th. Perry denied that he asked for a pardon for himself or other members of Congress. Greene denied that she asked for a pardon. Gaetz hasn’t commented on whether he sought a pardon.
- You can watch the full committee hearing here.
June 21st Hearing
- Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye, were election workers in Georgia who Trump attacked by name in a call with the Georgia secretary of state after becoming the focus of election fraud conspiracies that were found to be unsubstantiated. Ruby testified that she and her daughter had to move out of their home because of death threats they faced and said:
“I’ve lost my name, and I’ve lost my reputation. I’ve lost my sense of security - all because a group of people starting with #45 and his ally Rudy Giuliani decided to scapegoat me and my daughter, Shaye, to push their own lies about how the presidential election was stolen.”
- Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Secretary of State Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling, both Republicans who were repeatedly attacked by Trump when they pushed back on his false claims about the election in that state, testified in the hearing. Raffensperger testified that the state of Georgia investigated every allegation of voter fraud, but that those probes proved conclusively that his claims were false. Sterling testified that workers and contractors from Dominion Voting Systems, which was the focus of some of Trump’s false claims, were facing death threats from supporters of the conspiracy theories.
- Arizona Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers (R) testified that when he told Trump’s legal team they hadn’t brought forward substantially credible allegations of election fraud, Giuliani responded, “We’ve got lots of theories, we just don’t have the evidence.”
- The hearing revealed that a staffer for Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) exchanged texts with a staffer for Vice President Mike Pence on January 6th regarding a handoff of slates of false Trump electors for Wisconsin and Pennsylvania before the certification. However, the Pence aide rebuffed the attempt and told Johnson’s aide that the plan would not go forward. Johnson later said his office received the document from Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), but Kelly denied having any contact with Johnson.
- While states can submit dueling slates of electors for the Electoral College to sort out after a contested election, such slates must be submitted by state governors or the legislature to be considered, and none of the slates of Trump electors in question were properly submitted.
- The hearing revealed deep skepticism from Attorney General Bill Barr and in the White House Counsel’s office about the legal validity of Trump’s plan, and some of the fake electors asked the Trump campaign to cover legal fees they may incur.
- You can watch the full committee hearing here.
Committee Controversy
- The January 6th select committee has been a source of controversy since its inception in the summer of 2021. Earlier efforts to form a 9/11-style independent commission fell apart after Democrats wanted to retain the power to appoint all of its staffers and Republicans blocked the bill in the Senate.
- That led the House to create the select committee and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) appointed Democrats plus Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who had been an outspoken critic of Trump’s efforts to undermine the legitimacy of the election.
- Pelosi then rejected two of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) GOP picks for the committee ― Reps. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) ― which was contrary to prior precedent in the House. In retaliation, McCarthy withdrew the remaining GOP members of the committee and declined to name new ones.
- The speaker then added Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), who is also a Trump critic, to the committee which then began its work with just her selections on the committee and no lawmakers chosen by Republican leadership.
- With no GOP lawmakers who were chosen by their party’s leadership on the panel, the select committee’s public hearings have lacked the sort of adversarial cross-examination that you see in typical congressional committee hearings.
RELATED READING
- January 6th Committee Hears Testimony On Trump's Election Fraud Claims, Pressure on Pence to Overturn Election Results (6/16/22)
- January 6th Committee Holds Public Hearing in Primetime (6/9/22)
- AG Garland Delivers Update on Criminal Prosecutions of January 6th Capitol Rioters (1/5/22)
- Select Committee Hears Testimony From Police Officers Who Defended Capitol During January 6th Riot (7/27/21)
- Speaker Pelosi Adds Adam Kinzinger to January 6th Select Committee (7/26/21)
- Pelosi Rejects Two of McCarthy’s Picks for January 6th Select Committee (7/21/21)
- McCarthy Announces GOP Picks for January 6th Select Committee (7/19/21)
- Pelosi Picks Democrats & Liz Cheney for January 6th Select Committee (7/1/21)
- Senate Committees Release Bipartisan Report Detailing Intelligence & Security Failures Related to January 6th Capitol Riot (6/8/21)
- Senate Republicans Block Bill to Establish Commission to Investigate January 6th Attack (5/28/21)
- House Passes Bill Establishing Independent Commission to Investigate January 6th Capitol Attack (5/19/21)
— Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: Tyler Merbler via Flickr / Creative Commons)
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Hey ted, as a constituent, can you maybe help me get a meeting with your previous intern, Cassidy Hutchinson? I'd sure like to thank her for her honor and patriotism to our Country.
Thanks in advance. Please let me know ASAP!
Russian asset Mike Flynn wasn't able to say he didn't approve of the violence. He wasn't able to say he believed in the peaceful transfer of power.
Either lock him up or send him back to Russia.
Hearings are interesting but nothing will be done to trump as guilty as he is. He should be jailed and something has to be done with the Supreme Court it embarrassing
No amount of gashlighting noise from the desperate deplorables comprising Cult45 can undo the damage to the Republicans over this now.
Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony laid waste to the LIE that there were no weapons brought to the capitol. Former guy was okay with weapons since he knew they weren't coming after HIM.
She also made clear that plans were in place prior to January 6 and that violence was expected; she witnessed conversations about plans to 'blame anitfa' (where've we heard that? LOL) for the expected violence.
Our non-reading fascist says this is all hooey, of course. Not-scared-shitless fascist wants us to believe they're all upset about something-something *illegals*.
Sure thing. LOL
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/6/28/2107106/-Witness-to-Jan-6-probe-Trump-tried-to-take-the-wheel-literally-in-bid-to-crash-democracy
These emojis are ridiculous. I feel this way because a violent attack was launched against the duly elected government of the US and I just thank God we live in a country where democracy is still strong enough to have these hearings. But if we do nothing about it we won't be this way for long.
As for the revelations anyone who is shocked has been living in a cave for the past fifteen years.
At least this hearing shared something new that I never seen/heard before. The approach: Taking you behind the scenes. Add the drama to suck in the viewers. Hollywood wanna-be.
I have to say after seeing this hearing, I have more questions than answers. So.... what did we learn. 1: There were people there that were armed. Interesting that we did not hear this before, especially after all this time. They positioned it as if there were several people with guns, yet there was only one video that spoke to one man having a gun on his left side. If nothing else, with all the video they have, you would think that there would be some evidence of this. At one point, they said armed people would not go through the mags because they didn't want to have their guns taken and still, no video of this. 2: Cassidy Hutchinson, while used to narrate, her testimony didn't add any real value. If you listened to her responses, it was always "I was under the impression", "I feel", I thought", etc. Had this been a trial, this testimony would have been thrown out. 3: Trump was obsessed, disregarded anyone that didn't agree with him, and has a temper. We all knew that. Not condoning it, but nothing new here.
QUESTION: There are several articles about whether Trump called for x-tra security. Some articles say yes, while others say no. Trump claims he did, but Nancy Pelosi did not approve the request. For a moment, let's put this aside.
It was established that the CIA and alike had intel that there would be trouble. All were informed about this including Pelosi. Knowing this, why would she not automatically arrange x-tra security. Very suspicious.
I did not catch the end of the hearing, so if nothing changed, I have to say, all in all, not impressed.
I'm sure there will be many opportunities for cross-examination at the criminal trial.
Compelling evidence they knew:
1) the crowd had an assortment of weapons well before Trump's speech on the ellipse. Even wanted to remove the equipment for screen for weapons to get more people into the area where the speech was given cause they didn't want to have secret service confiscate the weapons.
2) the Capitol Police had already been overwhelmed when they sent more people there they knew were armed.
But still proceed to send the crowd to the Capitol.
And the hearings identified that people were trying to intimidate witnesses from testifying.
Question is what will charging authorities like DOJ & States going to do when transcripts become available in July.
https://www.npr.org/2022/06/28/1108396692/jan-6-committee-hearing-transcript
Lots of noise here - for weeks - from a very-aggressive shit-poster for Cult45, insistent that the friendly gathering was UNARMED. Well guess what.
https://www.emptywheel.net/2022/06/28/cassidy-hutchinson-proves-that-trump-knew-the-mob-he-sicced-on-mike-pence-was-armed/
Donald Trump should face charges for treason.
I am not surprised by all of the findings of the Jan 6 investigation. Sad to see so many insurrectionists in our Congress. How would they feel if the proud boys had found Mike Pence and had actually hung him????
The Committee is cherry picking its choice of hearing topics and its witnesses trying to prove a predetermined political motivated outcome.
The Republicans on this Committee are not trying to clarify facts through rigorous cross examination, consequently the hearsay "revelations" like the supposed Limosine steering wheel grap by Trump is quickly and publically refuted by the actual Secret Service Agents in the car. Did your news sources report the refutation (you are only hearing part of the story), feel used yet?
This Committee is not investigating why Speaker Pelosi or Majority Leader Schumer did not allow the deployment of protective troops as Presidentally Authorized two days before Jan.6th( also from testimony).
This is a Star Chamber or Kangeroo Court giving succor to those who are not fact oriented, none of this information will hold up in an actual court until it under goes a defense's cross examination, expect that new information being supressed will change the dialog being presented by the Committee and the sensational loving media.
Do not invest in belief, until real skeptical scrutiny is brought to bear on the witnesses and "facts".
Till then, its political theater for entertainment not real life.Congressional Representatives preening for camera time, not but for fact finding.
This is a partisan joke led by Dems, and it looks like it is backfiring in their face. Another reason not to vote for democrats.
The comittee is doing a fantastic job getting at the truth!
Awaiting additional hearings.
Also awaiting the DOJ'S involvement.
All lies.. Disproven minutes after stated. BTW - how are the polls going for you?
So, Palosi and mayor encouraged riot by refusing to get protection. Show trial with all Pelosi picked Trump haters and lying witnesses. Only thing Dems agree is hate Trump.
Former Pres. Frump & many of his MAGA Republican Supporters in Congress & the Senate,were directly involved in the Planning & Implimentation of the Jan. 6th Insurrection to stop the transfer of Power & certification of the Electoral Votes to Certify the 2020 election od Joe Biden as President. The fact that Frump was aware that some of his supporters were armed with weapons, he did not care. His main Goal was to have this Coup take place & destroy our Democracy. Fump & all hia Senate & Congressional Supporters, many of whom asked for Pardons should be removed from the Senate & Congressional Seats, & charged with a Conspiracy for their direct involvement to Overthrow our Democracy. The Republicans, including Mc Connell & McCarthy were fully aware of this attack as an Insurrection, & bith stated so tight after Jan. 6th took place. Yet they still support Frump & many continue to lie. The Republican Party is Not the Law & Order Party, they are the Lying Traitors who challenge our Democratic Society & only care about Power & their own GREED ! We will vote out every Republican at every level of Government this Nov. 2022. The Republican's are Now the Extreme White Suprrmists Party, being supported by a Now Very Republican Political Supreme Court. The Court is no longer fair & impartial, TRUTH !
Trump's statement that the armed insurrectionists should be given free passage to our Capital Grounds under the assertion that "they are not here to hurt me", is proof positive that Trump absolutely supported the wounding and killing of politicians who refused to pander to him.
Sunlight sanitizes.
Does America really need assault weapons for the public to purchase? We need gun controls that common sense. AR-15's are military weapons or law enforcement weapons. I have had enough "power" deaths in America! Do something NOW please! D. Bauman a Florida resident.
Surprisingly well done. Presented objectively from the mouths of people within the Trump circle more interested in truth and democracy than pretending in the 'big lie' and afraid of the Trump mafia.
Let's face it. These proceedings are a waste of time and tax payers, money. I don't have any faith that anyone will be prosecuted. Not even #45. Mafia standards have been allowed to infiltrate our government and politicians and must be stopped ASAP. The only problem is who is going to do it. n Congress won't as they are bought and paid for by the culprits. The DOJ won't because they may step on the wrong toes and their own sins will brought to light. And it has already been shown that the Supreme Court is also on the list of those bought and paid for. If we, the people, don't take action with our votes, we are all doomed to live under a fascist dictatorship with all our rights removed. I IS OUR CALL. It is our tax dollars they are using against us.
I'm very grateful that they're happening, but I would feel better if things were moving faster and we could get indictments, trials, and prosecutions done before the November elections. If Democrats lose either the house or the senate, these hearings will come crashing to a close faster than John Henry's Hammer coming down. This must not be allowed to happen if we are to preserve our country.
It is not composed as the House voted:
SEC. 2. COMPOSITION.
(a) Appointment Of Members.—The Speaker shall appoint 13 Members to the Select Committee, 5 of whom shall be appointed after consultation with the minority leader.
(b) Designation Of Chair.—The Speaker shall designate one Member to serve as chair of the Select Committee.
(c) Vacancies.—Any vacancy in the Select Committee shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
It is not sharing information with FBI nor DOJ as requested.
There is no cross examination nor is there multiple viewpoints presented. Hearsay is being treated as fact.
This is kangaroo court in the fullest and should be shamed.
the fact that trump and his republicans were spreading voter fraud 2 yrs before the election and was promoting racism encouraging republicans to attack anyone that spoke a difffernt laungauge and dressed or look differntely or came from a differnt country , promoted violence and lied from the time he took office about voter fraud and encouraged and promoted the over throw our government and encourgaed the violence i am extremely angry and upset that they have not arrested trump and his family for their lies and racist remarks and the republicans who tried to stop the vote and verification of president biden that includes mitch mcconnelll, ted cruz , matt gaetz, l;auren boebert, marjorie taylor greene , jim jordan , and the list goes on . they need arrested and charged with sedition and treason,
All members of the previous administration and their accomplices in Congress who committed acts of sedition need to be charged and sentenced to the fullest extent of the law..
I am thankful that there are patriots who are working hard in service of the American public so that we will know what happened on Jan 6, 2021. Granger, Cruz, and Cornyn do not number among those patriots as they continue to deny that there was any problem. Cruz in particular is no patriot as he actively endeavored to hinder the peaceful transfer of power. We will be better off when we get rid of these three and replace them with true patriots. As for the results of the hearings so far, it is appalling the lengths that the former so-called administration went to in order to commit crimes, preserve their own power and obstruct justice. For the entire term of the former so-called administration, Cruz, Cornyn and Granger from Texas enabled the criminality and corruption either through their head-in-the-sand silence or through more active methods. We now reap what they sowed. All of the country suffers through the negligence of Cruz, Cornyn and Granger. It was not difficult to see IN REAL TIME what was going on with the former bunch of thugs and criminals that is nominally an 'administration'. But Republicans made the choice to allow the crimes to happen and continue to foster the lies that put our country in danger.
The truth needs to come out. It is not political as the republicans who say that are the ones who were part of the insurrection and support trump. Get over it, he and you were treasonous
This Committee is doing an outstanding job exposing the lies and utter corruption of the Trump Administration and his GOP enablers. There will be a reckoning for the insurrection on January 6th.
It's about time the lawless nonsense in Washington be stopped. If Ford wasn't bullied into pardoning Nixon, this never would have happened. But the ethics are gone. And the criminal behavior gets pushed further and further. I thought Reagan got away with murder. You people letting trump literally get away with murder should be doing hard time. Aren't accomplices supposed to?? Any elected official who commits any criminal act, should get AT LEAST double the normal sentence. Frankly I can't see the people allowing any less. The gop has become a version of the Manson family. I don't know how any of you can hold your heads up.
I'm glad that the January 6 hearings are happening, because they contradict the narrative that many in the Senate and House are using to play down the severity of this insurrection, this assault on the Capitol.
The seriousness of this attack should not be lessened because the mob *would* have hurt people, if they had been able to get their hands on them. Mob mentality results in violence that most individuals would never do if they were acting alone. They were emboldened in their cause (cue multiple videos). They were ready to do what was necessary (cue multiple videos). They were calling for people's heads ("Nancy!"), they brought a noose ("Hang Mike Pence!"), they were carrying guns - not just handguns but semi-automatics (ex: Christopher Alberts was indicted for carrying a Taurus G2C semi-automatic handgun).
Every time I think of Jan 6, it makes me nauseous. They achieved what the Southern Confederacy was never able to do - they brought the Confederate flag into the Capitol. This wasn't a peaceful protest. This was an assualt on the Capitol with the intention of using violence to stop the certification of the election and harming those that opposed them (Grover Meredith sent a text message that read, "Hauling ass, 3.5 hours from target practice.").
Televising the hearings is necessary to combat the 'fake news' that is pushing the narrative that these were people doing lawful things and weren't a threat (I'm looking at you, Tucker Carlson). A peaceful protest doesn't break windows to enter a building, they don't bring mace, they don't shove people, they don't hit people with poles or other weapons, they don't smash someone between a door and its frame. We cannot let this go unpunished.
Glad that the truth/facts are coming out and that two Republicans have the courage to aid in this disclosure. It's just too bad that the rest of the chicken shit Republicans are willing to either hide their heads in the sand or to actively advance/support the "Big Lie" (yes, like you Mr. Josh Fucking Hawley).