The Bombshell Didn't Go Off
Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony was billed as "explosive" with lots of new revelations. In less than 24 hours, it ended up being a dud.
For those of you not following the January 6th hearings closely (which is probably most of you), it was I’m sure still kinda hard not to see/read/hear about some of Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony yesterday. After all, it was plastered all over the place. If you just got on social media, it’s likely that it popped up (at least briefly) in your newsfeed.
Even in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade, there were still other news stories going on. And, sticking with longstanding tradition, even if the mainstream media didn’t have something newsworthy to fit into their agenda, they’d make something fit.
And that’s exactly what they did with the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, the 25 year old former White House staffer who decided to help throw Trump under the bus (or, in this case, throw him under the Beast). And throw she did: explosive allegations of Trump throwing his lunch against a wall when his attorney general told him the election wasn’t rigged and the bizarre claim that Trump tried to commandeer his own presidential limo because he wanted to go to the rally at the Capitol instead of the back to the White House. There was tons of accusations thrown around yesterday - and you can read every single word of it right here.
It’s all quite brazen stuff and I wouldn’t blame you for believing it since Trump is a brazen guy. But there’s one problem: Hutchinson didn’t actually witness these events. It was all hearsay.
While it’s very plausible that Trump did throw his lunch against the wall (after all, the valet who Hutchinson says told him about the incident hasn’t refuted the story - and it wouldn’t be the first time something got thrown through the White House in a fit of anger) there’s been a lot of pushback about other claims Hutchinson has made.
The limo incident, for one, is heavily disputed. You have Anthony Ornato, the Secret Service agent who allegedly told Hutchinson about the incident saying it didn't happen, you have the Bobby Engel, the Secret Service agent who Trump allegedly lunged at saying it didn't happen, and you have the unnamed driver who Trump allegedly grabbed at to take control of the steering wheel saying it didn't happen.
All of them are willing to testify under oath (two have already given depositions to the committee which the committee somehow hasn't made public yet).
Yesterday, NBC News Chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander tweeted “A source close to the Secret Service tells me both Bobby Engel, the lead agent, and the presidential limousine/SUV driver are prepared to testify under oath that neither man was assaulted and that Mr. Trump never lunged for the steering wheel.”
That same day, CNN reporter Gabby Orr tweeted that “Tony Ornato is denying that he told Cassidy Hutchinson Trump grabbed the steering wheel in presidential vehicle on 1/6 or lunged at a fellow agent, a USSS official tells @joshscampbell. CNN confirms that Ornato & Enger are prepared to testify that neither incident occurred.”
Then there’s the case of the handwritten note that Hutchinson testified that she wrote; saying “Anyone who entered the Capitol without proper authority should leave immediately.”
That is being disputed by former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann, who claimed that he, in fact, wrote the note. A spokesperson for Herschmann claimed that “The handwritten note that Cassidy Hutchinson testified was written by her was in fact written by Eric Herschmann on January 6, 2021…All sources with direct knowledge and law enforcement have and will confirm that it was written by Mr. Herschmann.”
As you can see, if Hutchinson is either telling the truth, or there’s a lot of people lying. Three of those (Enger, Herschmann, and Ornato) have already submitted testimony to the January 6th committee, with Enger and Ornato (along with the limo driver) willing to testify again.
As is often the case in politics, many will just believe what they want, regardless of the facts; but, if you care about reality, it’s helpful to at least consider the facts…from time to time.