Posted on Jun 29, 2022
Trump's legal exposure may be growing – and 4 other takeaways from the Jan. 6 hearing
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https://www.npr.org/2022/06/28/ [login to see] /trumps-legal-exposure-may-be-growing-and-4-other-takeaways-from-the-jan-6-hearin
Explosive firsthand testimony was delivered Tuesday before the Jan. 6 committee from a former Trump White House aide about the former president's conduct on the day of the insurrection and those leading up to it.
Cassidy Hutchinson, who was a principal aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified under oath about a volatile and angry president. Trump, she said, was prone to throwing dishes and once even grabbed the wheel of the presidential limousine because that's how badly he wanted to go to the Capitol with the rioters.
Trump and Meadows, Hutchinson said, knew of the potential for violence before Jan. 6; the names of violent white supremacist groups who showed up at the Capitol that day were being bandied about in the White House when the president's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was around; Trump knew people who showed up at his speech on Jan. 6 had weapons and was furious the many were being stopped by magnetometers; and when the insurrection was taking place, Meadows seemed to have little reaction while Trump didn't care.
Explosive firsthand testimony was delivered Tuesday before the Jan. 6 committee from a former Trump White House aide about the former president's conduct on the day of the insurrection and those leading up to it.
Cassidy Hutchinson, who was a principal aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified under oath about a volatile and angry president. Trump, she said, was prone to throwing dishes and once even grabbed the wheel of the presidential limousine because that's how badly he wanted to go to the Capitol with the rioters.
Trump and Meadows, Hutchinson said, knew of the potential for violence before Jan. 6; the names of violent white supremacist groups who showed up at the Capitol that day were being bandied about in the White House when the president's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was around; Trump knew people who showed up at his speech on Jan. 6 had weapons and was furious the many were being stopped by magnetometers; and when the insurrection was taking place, Meadows seemed to have little reaction while Trump didn't care.
Trump's legal exposure may be growing – and 4 other takeaways from the Jan. 6 hearing
Posted from npr.org
Donald Trump
Election 2020
Riots
Washington
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 5
4
4
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Pretty good evidence'
Hutchinson's testimony came within a week of clear indications that the Justice Department has moved beyond the on-the-ground violence of January 6 to examine the actions of lawyers and other officials involved in Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
As that Justice Department inquiry unfolds, legal experts said Hutchinson's testimony Tuesday provided insight into Trump's state of mind — including his knowledge of potential criminality — that could support a future prosecution against him on charges of obstruction or conspiring to defraud the United States.
Other legal experts saw "smoking gun" evidence that could support a seditious conspiracy charge. And at the hearing's conclusion, the House panel presented evidence of witness tampering connected to the January 6 investigation.
"If you have your White House counsel saying, 'Do this and we're going to get charged with every crime imaginable,' that's pretty good evidence of your state of mind. You got legal advice that this would be criminal," Eliason told Insider.
The concerns about legal risk continued after January 6. In the aftermath of the Capitol attack, Hutchinson said, Meadows and Rudy Giuliani sought pardons from Trump. Neither received one.
It was a time, Hutchinson said, in which Trump grew so furious at the Secret Service and his own aides that he displayed a penchant for throwing meals at the wall. Weeks before January 6, Hutchinson recalled, she heard a loud noise down a White House hallway around the time the Associated Press reported remarks in which then-Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department had not uncovered evidence of widespread election fraud.
"I first noticed there was ketchup dripping down the wall and there was a shattered porcelain plate on the floor," she said.
She grabbed a towel and began helping the valet with the cleanup."
..."Pretty good evidence'
Hutchinson's testimony came within a week of clear indications that the Justice Department has moved beyond the on-the-ground violence of January 6 to examine the actions of lawyers and other officials involved in Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
As that Justice Department inquiry unfolds, legal experts said Hutchinson's testimony Tuesday provided insight into Trump's state of mind — including his knowledge of potential criminality — that could support a future prosecution against him on charges of obstruction or conspiring to defraud the United States.
Other legal experts saw "smoking gun" evidence that could support a seditious conspiracy charge. And at the hearing's conclusion, the House panel presented evidence of witness tampering connected to the January 6 investigation.
"If you have your White House counsel saying, 'Do this and we're going to get charged with every crime imaginable,' that's pretty good evidence of your state of mind. You got legal advice that this would be criminal," Eliason told Insider.
The concerns about legal risk continued after January 6. In the aftermath of the Capitol attack, Hutchinson said, Meadows and Rudy Giuliani sought pardons from Trump. Neither received one.
It was a time, Hutchinson said, in which Trump grew so furious at the Secret Service and his own aides that he displayed a penchant for throwing meals at the wall. Weeks before January 6, Hutchinson recalled, she heard a loud noise down a White House hallway around the time the Associated Press reported remarks in which then-Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department had not uncovered evidence of widespread election fraud.
"I first noticed there was ketchup dripping down the wall and there was a shattered porcelain plate on the floor," she said.
She grabbed a towel and began helping the valet with the cleanup."
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Guilty, guilty, guilty. If the AG does not convict him nor imprison him, much of this effort is in vain.
Rich
Rich
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And the more Donald and his conspirators protest, the more it confirms the facts!
Rich
Rich
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