If you watched the hearings of the January 6 Committee, you might agree that the most compelling testimony came from a young woman named Cassidy Hutchinson, who was a top aide to Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff.
She testified that Trump knew he lost the election. She described Trump’s fury when he heard that Bill Barr said that Trump lost the election: Trump threw his hamburger at the wall and splattered ketchup everywhere. This was not a one-time event, she said. Other times he ripped the tablecloth off, throwing everything on it to the floor.
She described the stories she had heard about Trump demanding to be driven to the Capitol to lead the rebellion, then physically struggling with his driver when the Secret Service wouldn’t let him go.
Her testimony was by far the most dramatic of the hearings.
What we did not know was the prolonged internal struggle that she endured when faced with the decision of whether to tell the truth or to follow the advice of her Trump team lawyer, who advised her to say, “I don’t recall.” If she said nothing, she would have a job in Trump world. She would be taken care of. It sounds like a Mafia movie.
Her Trump lawyer Stefan Passantino wouldn’t tell her who was paying him, but she assumed it was Trump.
Passantino, Hutchinson testified, told her the goal with her testimony was to “get you in and get you out.”
“Keep your answers short, sweet, and simple, seven words or less,” Passantino said, per Hutchinson’s testimony. “The less the committee thinks you know, the better, the quicker it’s going to go. It’s going to be painless. And then you’re going to be taken care of. You’re going to be done. It’s going to be off your hands.”
She decided she had to tell the truth. She had to have her own lawyer.
Her decision to testify—and the pressure put on her not to testify—is documented in the January 6 report.
Jake Tapper reports it here, and it is a compelling story of a woman with a conscience. A woman who decided she had to testify truthfully.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Cassidy Hutchinson is brave and honest. Her morality and courage are to be admired and I am grateful for her. What a woman!
Agreed
A litmus test for a Republican:
Any Republican/conservative that supports, spreads, and/or believes Traitor Trump’s big lie cannot be trusted, ever.
They tried to manipulate her, control her, and make her doubt her own eyes and ears. They thought that because she had been a first-generation college student from an obscure state school she would do anything to “get ahead.” They didn’t bargain on her lacking the sense of entitlement of so many of the Ivy Leaguers in their “family.” They underestimated her, and once she googled “Watergate,” it was all over for Trump world.
Well said. Cassidy has moral fiber. I wonder how she survived so long in Trump world.
The GOP acts like a crime family. They gang up on anyone that dares to counter their prefabricated version of events. Kudos to Cassidy for her courage and determination to tell the truth.
The Trump Organization RICO IS a crime family. No exaggeration, no hyperbole, simply the fact of the matter.
The Don, Cheeto “Littlefingers” Trumpbalone
We could all learn from her. What an example of bravery and integrity
wait a minute. Isn’t perjury a crime? It seems to me that having a conscience is beside the point. & if one has a conscience, then there is no struggle.
Many Trump officials took the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying. Others didn’t recall anything.
Cassidy was under intense pressure to recall nothing.
Trump world was counting on her to protect the boss. She was promised a good job if she went along, like so many others.
Yes, she struggled.
“I don’t recall”
I don’t recall my name
And don’t recall my job
So who can really blame
Me if I cheat and rob?
I don’t recall the crime
But even if I did
I’d have to do the time
If ever I’d admit
If one is driven by conscience, why would one ever work for Trump to begin with.
Careerism is a very pathetic excuse for all sorts of misbehavior.
It’s not like no one had any inkling what sort of person he was ahead of time.
A very young person like that, especially a female, might have a longer time than you would assume seeing through an entire upbringing of conservative and/or evangelical gaslighting.
If you’re raised in an environment that is very closed and all the people you know – she even had relatives who were QAnon supporters -have raised you to believe one thing it takes a while to see other options. It doesn’t happen overnight.
It’s disheartening that someone who’s a poet can’t imagine a world that is like this- there is evidence everywhere. Especially for women. Their are whole countries where women are so brainwashed and gaslit and kowed that they even condemn and “out” other women who don’t want to wear a veil and willingly support deadly misogyny.
It’s incredibly courageous what she’s done.
Texastitleone,
I agree. Casey was raised in a very conservative environment. Her father is an ardent Trumper. She has QAnon relatives. She worked inside the inner circle of the White House. She was under intense pressure to “protect the boss” and promised a good job and all lawyer’s fees. All she had to do was say “I don’t recall.” She didn’t and she couldn’t.
There not their