Remember Cassidy Hutchinson, the former West Wing aide who swore that the hearsay evidence she would tell the J6 Committee was the truth, the whole truth, so help her God? The new Inspector General's report on the Secret Service's activities on Jan. 6, 2021, has finally put this story and Hutchinson's reputation into the wood-chipper.
As you may recall, Hutchinson said that on January 6, as President Donald Trump was driven from his speech at a Save America rally to the White House, he "lunged" at the Secret Service driver when he learned that he wouldn't be going to the Capitol Building for a "peaceful and patriotic" protest. That was the story she told the January 6 Committee.
Hutchinson, immediately turned into the darling of the Never Trump left. She testified before the January 6 Committee — which, coincidentally, put their documents into the wood-chipper too, small world — that the angry orange man caused quite a scene in the car.
In 2022 she testified that "The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel [lead Secret Service detail agent] grabbed his arm, and 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 Capitol.’ Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel."
Hutchinson's "source" for the gossip was, she claimed, former Secret Service agent-turned-Trump White House Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Ornato. Ornato says he never witnessed the event, much less told her.
Furthermore, the IG's redacted report says the Secret Service took more than four months before he made himself available where he reiterated that this Trump episode never happened. The other Secret Service agents who were in the car said Trump never lunged at the driver, though one reported that he was angry that he couldn't go.
Hutchinson's story was so good that the J6 Committee didn't want to check it. The panel ignored normal legal rules and welcomed the uncorroborated hearsay testimony.
The footnote at the bottom of page 30 of the report refers to Hutchinson's testimony and claims that after questioning all of the Secret Service agents involved, there was no there there. Ornato says that he didn't recall any such incident and said, "I do not recall speaking to anyone about it."
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Indeed, nobody did.
“We asked [redacted] agents whether the president reached for the steering wheel of the limousine or lunged toward the detail lead when his request to go to the Capitol was denied, and witnesses said those actions did not occur,” notes the report.
There are cases, as I told you in my PJ Media story over the weekend when Secret Service agents stay mum on certain things that happen on their watch. This could be one of them, but some things mitigate against that.
First of all, mere hours after the events at the Capitol began, The Washington Post referred to it as an insurrection. Why would the Secret Service lie for an insurrectionist? Additionally, in the days leading up to J6, Secret Service agents were asked about and nixed any plans for Trump to go to the Capitol Building despite their reported low threat level. When "unconfirmed rumors" bubbled up on January 5 about a possible visit to the Capitol after the president's speech, the Secret Service said no.
But on January 6, when things were getting unwieldy at the Capitol before the president was even off stage, the no became a hell no. It is easy to believe that Trump might be angry. After all, he thought, his supporters had never gotten violent before, so what was the harm?
But at 12:53, while he was speaking, there was trouble at the Capitol at the area where Ray Epps was stationed, and the breach of the bike racks began. At 1:16, Trump was in his limo. According to the report, at 1:19, Trump arrived back at the White House. This was the same time the Secret Service received an email (remember, the Secret Service erased its text messages) about "serious challenges" at the Capitol.
In short, there was never a plan to go to the Capitol.
Tellingly, the J6 Committee spoke with those Secret Service agents and never included their testimony in its final report.
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Hutchinson would even write a book about her amazing White House exploits that the state-run media were more than willing to amplify for their girl. Today, she's giving paid speeches about her White House story.
Recently, I spoke on my Adult in the Room podcast with a former intelligence who attended Trump's speech and observed the bizarre goings on as he got closer to the Capitol Complex. J. Michael Waller is an expert on mis- and disinformation. He thinks the January 6 riots were an intelligence community operation.
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