{"id":370,"date":"2023-11-15T20:23:37","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T20:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/cassidy-hutchinson-lied.html"},"modified":"2023-11-15T20:23:37","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T20:23:37","slug":"cassidy-hutchinson-lied","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/cassidy-hutchinson-lied.html","title":{"rendered":"Cassidy hutchinson lied"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                <![CDATA[\n\n<h1>Cassidy Hutchinson says she initially lied to the January 6 committee about a claim that Trump grabbed the steering wheel of his SUV and lunged at a Secret Service agent<\/h1>\n\n\n\n\n<blockquote>She quickly ordered two copies of Butterfield\u2019s book, co-authored by journalist Bob Woodward, and had them shipped to her parents\u2019 house, where she devoured them.<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n<h2>Cassidy Hutchinson knew she was going to be &#8216;nuked&#8217; for turning on Trump. She did it anyway.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<p>New transcripts of testimony from the star Jan. 6 committee witness paint an intimate portrait of a young, desperate woman torn between her conscience and powerful men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2022-12\/221222-cassidy-hutchinson-se-1258p-c468ac.jpg\" alt=\"Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, enters to testify as the House Jan. 6 select committee holds a hearing on Capitol Hill on June 28, 2022. \" width=\"2500\" height=\"1667\" \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, enters to testify at a hearing on Capitol Hill on June 28. Demetrius Freeman \/ The Washington Post via Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Cassidy Hutchinson sped out of Washington in the wee hours of the morning while Googling &#8220;Watergate&#8221; on her phone, frantically looking for some kind of guidance on how to be a whistleblower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Until that moment, the former Donald Trump White House aide, who would go on to be the star witness of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, had remained \u201cloyal\u201d and \u201cin the family,\u201d as Trumpworld insiders kept reminding her, according to transcripts of her testimony released Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>She didn\u2019t even know who was paying her own lawyer, but he made it clear that her job was to \u201cprotect the president.\u201d And he kept dangling job opportunities and promising that she would be \u201ctaken care of\u201d if she did her part, she ultimately told the committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>But the night before she fled for her parent\u2019s house in New Jersey, Hutchinson said she \u201chad a mental breakdown\u201d as the moral crisis she had been grappling with came to a head, pushing her to make a decision that would change the course of the investigation into the 2021 attack on the Capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Hutchinson&#8217;s blockbuster testimony this summer became a key pillar of Jan. 6 committee&#8217;s investigation. But new, never-before-seen transcripts of her interviews with investigators released Thursday offer a fresh portrait of a young, desperate woman torn between her conscience and some of the most powerful men in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was scared,\u201d she told committee investigators last September in sworn testimony. \u201cI almost felt like at points Donald Trump was looking over my shoulder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was scared. I almost felt like at points Donald Trump was looking over my shoulder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014 Cassidy Hutchinson in sworn testimony<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>The transcripts, which come ahead of the release of the committee&#8217;s final report, offer an intimate look at the pressure Hutchinson says she felt from Trumpworld to stay in line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Unemployed and unable to afford a lawyer at the outset of the committee&#8217;s investigation, Hutchinson begged her estranged biological father for money on his doorstep one night, but he refused. Asking for his help, she said, was one of her only regrets. Her aunt and uncle \u2014 whom she described as believers in QAnon, a conspiracy theory driven by Trump supporters \u2014 were more sympathetic, and even looked into refinancing their home to help, but that didn\u2019t work out either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>So she reluctantly accepted when Trump insiders reached out to tell her not to worry, they would set her up with an attorney at no charge to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am completely indebted to these people. They will ruin my life, Mom, if I do anything that they don\u2019t want me to do,\u201d she said she told her mother at one point, according to the transcripts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>She was fully aware the help came with strings attached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was this, like, battle inside my head where, like, 80% of me constantly felt like, &#8216;This is bad, this is bad, this is bad. I need to get out of this situation,'&#8221; she said. &#8220;But then there was 20% of me . where I was thinking, you know, like, &#8216;Cass, you\u2019re overthinking this. . Maybe they really do want to take care of you and they are trying to make this easy on you. Like, don\u2019t be too cynical about this.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Her Trump-allied lawyer, Stefan Passantino, counseled her to say as little as possible to Jan. 6 committee investigators, she said. \u201cWe just want to focus on protecting the president. We all know you\u2019re loyal. Let\u2019s just get you in and out,\u201d she said he told her, according to the transcripts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>On days when she was scheduled to be deposed, he would dangle job prospects. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna get you a really good job in Trumpworld. You don\u2019t need to apply other places. We\u2019re gonna get you taken care of. We want to keep you in the family,\u201d she said he told her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI want to make this clear to you: Stefan never told me to lie,&#8221; she told the committee. &#8220;He specifically told me, \u2018I don\u2019t want you to perjure yourself, but \u2018I don\u2019t recall\u2019 isn\u2019t perjury. They don\u2019t know what you can and can\u2019t recall.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>At first, Hutchinson did her part, as instructed, during two depositions. She felt like she had lied and felt bad but tried to forget about it. \u201cI just kind of compartmentalized any guilt that I had had and was just like, &#8216;let me just move on,&#8217;\u201d she testified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>But in April, the dam holding back her guilt burst. She was sitting in her Washington apartment and read a legal document that cited her testimony, which was replete with obfuscations, dodges and \u201cI cannot recall\u201d statements. She broke down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSo I got in the car, and I drove up to New Jersey, because my parents live in New Jersey, and what does Cassidy do when she has problems . she doesn\u2019t want to confront? I try to get out \u2014 I try to get out of here,\u201d she later testified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>She said she didn\u2019t know much about Watergate at the time, but Wikipedia quickly educated her about Nixon White House whistleblowers like former counsel John Dean and Alex Butterfield, the aide who had helped install \u2014 and then publicly reveal \u2014 Nixon\u2019s taping system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt looked like he had a similar role and title to what I had in the White House. So I\u2019m, in driving, sort of trying to read about him,\u201d Hutchinson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>She quickly ordered two copies of Butterfield\u2019s book, co-authored by journalist Bob Woodward, and had them shipped to her parents\u2019 house, where she devoured them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI read it once. Then I read it again, underlined. And then I read it a third time, and I went through and tabbed it,\u201d she said. \u201cHe talked about a lot of the same things that I felt like I was experiencing . but he ended up doing the right thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd it was after I read this I was like, if I\u2019m going to pass the mirror test for the rest of my life, I need to try to fix some of this,\u201d she said, referring to the ability to look at oneself in the mirror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>She back-channeled information to investigators to ensure they would ask her back for a third deposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>When she met with them again, she was more forthcoming. Her Trumpworld lawyer, Passantino, was not happy, she said, and began frantically calling his colleagues to do damage control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Passantino, who was deputy White House counsel under Trump, defended himself in a statement and said the Jan. 6 committee never asked for his side of the story. He said he was taking a leave of absence from the law firm where he was a partner, Michael Best, which he said was not involved in Hutchinson\u2019s defense, because he does not want to be a \u201cdistraction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs with all my clients during my 30 years of practice, I represented Ms. Hutchinson honorably, ethically, and fully consistent with her sole interests as she communicated them to me. I believed Ms. Hutchinson was being truthful and cooperative with the Committee throughout the several interview sessions in which I represented her,\u201d Passantino said. \u201cIt is not uncommon for clients to change lawyers because their interests or strategies change. It is also not uncommon for a third-party, including a political committee, to cover a client\u2019s fees at the client\u2019s request. External communications made on Ms. Hutchinson\u2019s behalf while I was her counsel were made with her express authorization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Eventually, Hutchinson would get a new, independent pro bono lawyer, and break entirely from Trumpworld, revealing everything she knew, including about the incident in which Trump allegedly put his hands on a Secret Service agent\u2019s neck demanding he be taken to the Capitol on Jan. 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m about to be f&#8212;&#8212; nuked,\u201d she said she told a committee staffer as she left that third meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really sorry,\u201d the staffer replied, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>And then Hutchinson turned and walked out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2>Cassidy Hutchinson says she initially lied to the January 6 committee about a claim that Trump grabbed the steering wheel of his SUV and lunged at a Secret Service agent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email.<\/p>\n\n\nTwitter icon A stylized bird with an open mouth, tweeting.\n\n\n<p>Twitter LinkedIn icon The word &#8220;in&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>LinkedIn Fliboard icon A stylized letter F.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Flipboard Facebook Icon The letter F.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Facebook Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Email Link icon An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/63a496d62345c00019eaa66e?width=400&#038;format=jpeg&#038;auto=webp\" alt=\"Cassidy Hutchinson\" width=\"\" \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<ul>\n  \n\n<li>Cassidy Hutchinson said she lied in her original deposition to the House Capitol-riot committee.<\/li>\n\n\n  \n\n<li>She said she initially told the panel she hadn&#8217;t heard of Trump lunging at a Secret Service agent.<\/li>\n\n\n  \n\n<li>But soon after her deposition, she said she told her attorney, &#8220;I lied, I lied, I lied.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Sign up to get the inside scoop on today\u2019s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business \u2014 delivered daily. Read preview<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/public\/assets\/rebrand\/newsletter-bull.png\" alt=\"Bull\" \/><\/p>\n\n\nAccess your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you&#8217;re on the go. download the app\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/public\/assets\/rebrand\/newsletter-bull.png\" alt=\"Bull\" \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide in the Trump administration and a key witness in the House select committee hearings on the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, said she initially lied to the panel in a deposition about whether she&#8217;d heard that President Donald Trump lunged at a Secret Service agent in the presidential SUV on the day of the riot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>In her newly released depositions, Hutchinson said she was coerced by Stefan Passantino, her Trump-aligned attorney, to mislead it on how much information she knew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The committee doesn&#8217;t know what you can and can&#8217;t recall, so we want to be able to use that as much as we can unless you really, really remember something very clearly,&#8221; Hutchinson said Passantino told her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Hutchinson said she followed the advice of her counsel. When asked about a moment on January 6 when the president is said to have lunged at a member of the Secret Service in the presidential SUV for not taking him to the Capitol alongside protesters, she said she told the panel she had &#8220;never heard anything about that.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>After the deposition, she told the committee in a separate deposition that she broke down in front of Passantino out of fear that she had just lied to the committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Stefan, I&#8217;m fucked. I just lied,&#8221; Hutchinson said she told Passantino. &#8220;I lied, I lied, I lied.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>In a later deposition, Hutchinson told the committee she continued to be riddled with guilt after not being entirely truthful to the committee in her first deposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Stefan, I feel really guilty and bad about not answering some questions today,&#8221; she said she told her counsel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Hutchinson also apologized for her missteps with the committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I know my history with the committee, and I am sorry that it took so long to get to this place,&#8221; she told Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the committee. &#8220;I do accept responsibility for it. I&#8217;m not pinning blame on everybody else but myself.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Passantino denied any wrongdoing in a statement to Insider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;As with all my clients during my 30 years of practice, I represented Ms. Hutchinson honorably, ethically, and fully consistent with her sole interests as she communicated them to me,&#8221; Passantino told Insider. &#8220;I believed Ms. Hutchinson was being truthful and cooperative with the Committee throughout the several interview sessions in which I represented her.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Correction: December 22, 2022<\/strong> \u2014 An earlier version of this story misstated the date of the Capitol riot. It took place on January 6, 2021, not January 6, 2020.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n]]><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>                <![CDATA[Cassidy hutchinson lied]]><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}