Cassidy Hutchinson's story certainly changed from what she said in private

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

The media celebrations over their superstar witness during the prime-time January 6 Committee hearings have turned out to be rather short-lived. When Cassidy Hutchison’s incendiary claims were first aired, Democrats thought they had finally lined up some truly damning information about Donald Trump’s activities on the day of the riot, despite the fact that all of Hutchinson’s testimony was based on hearsay and she hadn’t actually been on hand to witness anything herself. Her testimony was further called into doubt when members of the Secret Service disputed her claims. Now, however, even more evidence has emerged which tells a very different story than the one she gave under oath before the committee and it comes from Hutchinson herself. The Federalist has obtained a trove of her text messages and correspondence from the periods before, during, and after the riot. Rather than having been “disgusted” and “distressed” by what she saw (on television, not in person), she had been making jokes about the event and referred to the January 6 Committee in disparaging ways.

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In a series of private communications from December 2020 through May 2021, shared exclusively with The Federalist, Hutchinson commiserated with other targets of the probe about how little information she had about any wrongdoing that day, and lamented how corrupt the politicized committee was. Far from being upset with Trump, Hutchinson repeatedly spoke in favor of him and his presidency.

“I would rather shoot myself dead into the Potomac than see marine one flying around this city without 45 again,” Hutchinson wrote in one message nearly three months after the Capitol riot.

In November 2021, Hutchinson was among the first former White House staffers to be subpoenaed by the Select Committee. In the weeks and months following, Hutchinson continued to disparage the politicized committee in private, and repeatedly joked about the same riot she now says leaves her with emotional scars today.

As recently as just a few months ago, Hutchinson certainly didn’t sound as if she was “emotionally scarred” from the events of January 6th. Nor was she abandoning her loyalty to Donald Trump, who she said should still be in office.

She shared with friends the opinion that any testimony she might be called to give to the committee would be essentially useless because she didn’t know what had gone on. Another staffer texted her saying, “Other than a handful of irrelevant texts, I have literally no documents or anything they’re asking about.” Hutchinson replied to that text by saying “Same.”

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The week after she received her subpoena to testify, she referred to the January 6 panel as a “phony committee.” The federalist has more examples of the many jokes she was making about the entire process. Further, she invoked the “Stop the Steal” motto herself multiple times before January 6.

It’s almost as if we’re hearing from two entirely different people with hot takes and memories that are almost diametrically opposed to each other. What could have possibly prompted such a remarkable turnaround in her attitude in such a short period of time? And how is it that she suddenly “remembered” all of those details about conversations she had more than 18 months earlier? Particularly when the other supposed participants in those conversations seem to have no memory of them?

I doubt Hutchinson needs to worry very much about getting into trouble if the testimony that she gave under oath falls apart. After all, as I already noted, she was only testifying about hearsay, not any events that she witnessed personally. And she can claim that her memories might be faulty after this much time. Of course, the Democrats would never call her out to begin with after all of the help she tried to give the committee.

Do you suppose that we’ll see any corrections offered by the media elite who described Hutchinson as “the new John Dean” whose testimony was going to “change everything?” I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting. Her testimony has been enshrined in the record now and will likely be referred to for years to come despite having largely been blown to smithereens.

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Ed Morrissey 2:00 PM | October 11, 2024
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