As no witness before her, Cassidy Hutchinson took the audience to the west wing on January 6 and the days surrounding her. In live testimonies and clips of his video-recorded deposition, he used vivid details to tell scenes involving President Donald Trump and some of his closest collaborators.
Illustrations by Lara Antal for custom-hutchinson-visual (Lara Antal for The Washington Post)
From the Oval Office dining room to the backstage area of the White House Ellipse, he explained how Trump and the people around him reacted to the key moments that led to the pro-Trump riot, citing widely his interactions with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. as well as the discussions he heard about the president.
Here are four of the revealing scenes Hutchinson described:
December 1, 2020: Ketchup on the wall
Hutchinson was within reach of the Oval Office dining room on Dec. 1, 2020, when President Donald Trump saw his attorney general, William P. Barr, tell the Associated Press that the Justice Department does not he had found evidence of widespread electoral fraud. She felt a commotion, and when the apartment pointed her out in the dining room, she observed the consequences of the president’s reaction.
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January 2, 2021: “Let’s go to the Capitol”
On January 2, 2021, four days before the attack on the Capitol, Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, met with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, among others. Hutchinson took Giuliani out of the White House that night and overheard him preview the events of January 6th.
January 6, 2021: “They’re not here to hurt me”
Backstage before Trump’s speech to Ellipse supporters, Hutchinson stood close to the president as he assessed the size of the crowd and, in his explanation, called for metal detectors to be removed so they could attend. people with guns, saying, “They’re not. here to hurt me.”
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January 6, 2021: Not going to the Capitol
Hutchinson described what Tony Ornato, deputy chief of operations, told him about Trump’s reaction when he was told he could not join his supporters at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
About this story
Illustrations by Lara Antal. Design and development by Aadit Tambe. Audio by Sabby Robinson. Additional report by Isaac Stanley-Becker. Editing by Madison Walls, Rachel Orr and Griff Witte. Copy edition by Jordan Melendrez.