The Congressional Committee investigating the January 6th attack
on the U. S Capitol today held a quickly scheduled hearing. It's
six this month to present what it called new and urgent evidence.
About what former President Donald Trump knew and said before, during
and after the insurrection, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to
White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, presented the most compelling
and detailed account yet of the actions of the former president's
inner circle, and she shared her own reaction as she watched the
events of January 6th.
I remember feeling frustrated.
Disappointed.
And really, it felt personal. I was really sad.
As an American.
I was disgusted.
It was
Unpatriotic. It was un American. We are watching the Capitol building,
get two faced over a lie.
Today was the first time Hutchinson publicly appeared before the
committee. But she has spoken several other times behind closed doors
and in video from those depositions. Hutchinson explained that Trump
knew some of the members of the crowd armed with weapons because
he grew frustrated about the secret service security procedures.
Specifically the metal detectors, making the crowd at his January
6th speech smaller than he wanted.
Keep wanted at full, and he was angry that we weren't letting people
through the mags with weapons. I was in the vicinity of a conversation
where I overheard the president say something Escape Act of
I don't even care that they have weapons.
They're not here to hurt me. Take that. I think bags away. Let my
people and they can march the capital from here. Let the people in.
Take that I think. Mags away
Our congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardin and White House correspondent
Laura Baron Lopez have been following the hearings today. They both
join me now, Laura, let me begin with you, Cassidy Hutchinson, not
a name we were familiar with, but she was at the center.
Of so much. What was going on in the White House certainly had a
lot of access. How did she feel in the timeline of what took place?
That's right, Judy. So Cassidy Hutchinson is all has worked for Republicans
for a very long time, and she was in daily contact with her boss,
Mark Meadows, as well as a lot of other senior White House officials.
Throughout her time in the White House and leading up to January
6th. She testified that multiple on multiple occasions there were
warnings.
And raise concerns about threats of violence. On that day. She said
that she overheard Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's lawyer, talking
about proud boys and the oath keepers being present at the events
that day.
And then she also gave very important testimony about an exchange
that she had with Patsy Bologna. White House counsel to President
Trump and in that exchange to Bologna, told Hutchinson on January
3rd that he was really worried about legal concerns that the White
House could face if President Trump decided to go to the capital.
On January six, making a movement that would be very logistically
difficult, and he also warned her again on the morning of January
6th hit Here's What's it? Baloney said to Hutchinson.
And we understand Miss Hutchinson that you also spoke to Mr Sip alone
on the morning of the sixth as you were about to go to the rally
on the Ellipse.
And Mr Speroni said something to you, like, make sure the movement
to the capital does not happen. Is that correct? That's correct.
I saw Mr Sip Aloni right before I walked out onto West exact that
morning.
And Mr Sabonis said something to the effect of
Please make sure we don't go up to the capital Cassidy. Keep in touch
with me.
We're going to get charges every crime imaginable if we make that
movement happen.
Now that exchange that, Hutchinson recalled, was new. We had never
heard that before, and also the specific crimes that abalone was
talking about. He told Hutchinson that he thought that they could
face obstruction of proceedings charges as well as defrauding of
electors charges and still, despite all of those warnings, the president
wanted to go to the capital and
Urged his staff to make it possible for him and Laura Cassidy. Hutchinson
testified about how she traveled in the president's motorcade to
the rally that was taking place on the morning.
Of January, 6th and she also testified about the president's reaction
when he learned that a number of the people at that rally or in that
area where carrying weapons
That's right. As you mentioned earlier, Judy the president was really
upset that he, his supporters were not being allowed into
where his speech was at, which is the Ellipse, which is right outside
of the White House, and it was because they had weapons. They had
knives. They had other, you know, very dangerous paraphernalia on
them, and the president said.
Let them through. Uh, they aren't going to hurt me and that that
he was pretty much dismissing threats of violence. Now, after his
speech at that, stop the steal rally with his supporters. The president
then went to go get into his motorcade would into the vehicle that
we call the beast.
And when he got in, he got in with Robert Engle, who was his top
Secret service agent that day, and he was under the impression that
he was going to be able to go from that speech to the capital, along
with his supporters, and when he was told by Robert Angle that he
was not going to be able to do that, due to resources. Here's how
the president reacted.
The president had
Very strong, very angry response to that.
Mm.
Tony described him as being irate. The president said something to
the effect of
I'm the acting president. Take me up to the capital now.
To which Bobby responded, sir. We have to go back to the West Wing.
President reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at
the steering wheel.
Mr Engel grabbed his arm.
Said, Sir, You need to take your hand off the steering wheel.
We're going back to the West Wing. We're not going to the capital.
Mr Trump, then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Angle and
Mr One, Mr Ronaldo had recounted the story to me. He had motion towards
his clavicles.
Hutchinson was told that exchange about that episode in the Beast
by Anthony or Nado, who was then deputy chief of staff to the president,
and she said that when she was told she was told that
When they returned to the White House because again she was in the
motorcade with the president throughout the day when he went to the
speech when he came back to the White House from the speech, And
she said that when she was told that Robert Engle was standing there
in the room again, that Secret Service Secret Service agent with
the president, and he did not refute anything that was said in that
episode.
And as the days as the day went on, then rioters broke into the capital,
which we all watched as they started to descend into the Senate and
Hutchinson said.
That that At that point, she witnessed Patsy Bologna White House
counsel to the president confront Mark Meadows chief of staff, and
that's baloney was very concerned because we were starting to hear
chance about hanging. Vice President Mike Pence from the rioters
that just that had descended on the capital, and here is what's a
Bologna said to Meadows.
I remember Pat saying something to the effect of Mark. We need to
do something more there, literally calling.
From the vice president's the effing Hong
And market responded something to the effect of you heard him, Pat.
He thinks Mike deserves that. He doesn't think they're doing anything
wrong.
The big picture here. Judy is that we've heard from Hutchinson's
testimony. Time and again all of the warning signs and all of the
concerns about what would happen on January 6th and that the president
appeared to be dismissing the threats of violence, not just to
Two members of Congress but also to his vice president.
And I'm going to have Lisa pick it up from here. Lisa when it comes
to the president's then chief of staff, Mark Meadows, we did learn
more today about his role in all this.
That's right. A lot of names here. But Central is Mark Meadows. And
let's remind our viewers who were talking about in his own history.
Mark Meadows came to Congress as a member from North Carolina. And
we can look at some of the associations in a graphic that we have
here. There you go. Mark Meadows. He in 2015 formed the Freedom Caucus
with Jim Congressman Jim Jordans.
And then in 2020, he became the chief of staff to President Trump
Central figure and what we heard described today. In testimony, Judy
was a picture of a chief of staff.
Who did was not acting to the degree to which it almost seemed. It
was a passiveness that may have bordered on permissiveness of what
was going on in the White House is Oval Office.
On January 2nd in particular, Cassidy. Hutchinson described a conversation
with Rudy Giuliani. She was walking him out of the White House. He
brought up plans for January. 6th in a way that really got on her
radar like never before.
She walked back into the White House, and she was asked today did
she then talked to Mark Meadows, her boss about what you heard from?
Giuliani hears her response.
I went back up to our office, and I found Mr Meadows in his office
on the couch.
Is going through his phone, remember leaning against the doorway
and saying interesting conversation is broody Mark.
Sounds like we're going to go to the capital.
He didn't look up from his phone and said something to the effect
of there's a lot going on, CASS, but I don't know.
Things might get real real bad on January 6th that evening was the
first moment.
That I remember feeling scared.
And nervous for what could happen on January six.
Fast forward to January, 6th and cut, Atkinson said her boss, Mark
Meadows, was unresponsive to her, please, to pay attention to what
was going on to the capital. She wasn't even really concerned about
Jim Jordans when she first brought that issue up, And then she recounted
this moment when White House counsel Pat Sip alone.
Reached out to meadows to try and get him to get the president. More
involved here is that that conversation
The writers have gotten to the capital Mark. We need to go down and
see the president now.
And Mark looked up at him and say he doesn't want to do anything.
Bad impact said something to the effect of and very clearly has.
Said this to mark something to the effect of
Mark. Something needs to be done where people are going to die in.
The blood is going to be on your hands. This is getting out of control.
I'm going down there.
Just extraordinary testimony. We also heard today that from Hutchinson
that Meadows himself asked for a pardon, of course, reached out to
Mr Meadows attorneys for a response to all of this. We have not heard
back yet.
Lisa, There was literally one explosive disclosure after another.
Anything else you would add that was noteworthy in the way of accusations
and how are the former president and the others around him? Responding
to all this?
I will say some Republicans have reacted in text with me direct messages
with just a simple exclamation point. But it's important to point
out that the president has, in fact, been responding today. Here
are some of the quotes that he's put out on social media today. First,
he said of Hutchinson. I hardly know who this person is.
Of that limo anecdote. The idea that he reached out and assaulted
a security aid, he said. That's a fake story, And he also said there's
no cross examination for this so called witnesses. This is a kangaroo
court, and I should remind viewers. Of course, the president former
president Trump in the past has disassociated himself that he doesn't
know people that we know he has been associated with in the past.
So I want to add that piece of context. Now overall, Let's talk about
all these accusations Lower and I presented a lot of reporting. It's
easy to get lost in, but we wanted to summarize what we learned today.
Overall first that President Trump knew about weapons here in Washington,
D C and a chance for violence from the crowd as it was getting ready
to go to the capital, and that he himself wanted to march into the
capital with the crowd.
The other accusation is that he assaulted the security chiefs warned
to protect him because he wanted to take over and get himself to
the capital. And then another accusation. Judith Important witness
tampering.
The committee said that they now have messages from Trump allies
to witnesses saying that they are sure they will be loyal. That,
of course, is also a potential federal crime. And I think with all
of this, what we're seeing now is the committee kind of honing more
and more evidence for criminal cases.
That still remains in the hands of the Department of Justice, Of
course, and we also know more hearings. Our head. We don't know when
That's right. They point pointed to hearings. Upcoming. More information
to be disclosed. Lisa Desjardin, Laura Baron Lopez, We thank you