Mulvaney on Jan. 6 witness Hutchinson: ‘I know her. I don’t think she is lying’
Ryan King
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Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney declared that Tuesday has been “a very, very bad day” for former President Donald Trump following the “explosive” House select Jan. 6 committee hearing.
Mulvaney said he does not believe the star witness lied and highlighted five key takeaways on Twitter.
“1) Trump knew the protesters had guns 2) He assaulted his own security team 3) There may be a line from Proud Boys to the WH 4) Top aides asked for pardons 5) The commission thinks they have evidence of witness tampering,” he tweeted. “That is a very, very bad day for Trump.”
SIX NOTABLE MOMENTS FROM HOUSE JAN. 6 HEARING FEATURING EX-TRUMP AIDE HUTCHINSON
https://twitter.com/MickMulvaney/status/1541865971593396226?s=20&t=myMMtBOISd-sekTimsA9aA
Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Mulvaney’s successor as chief of staff, Mark Meadows, delivered testimony Tuesday recounting Trump’s behavior in the lead-up to and day of the Capitol riot.
“My guess is that before this is over, we will be hearing testimony from Ornato, Engle, and Meadows. This is explosive stuff. If Cassidy is making this up, they will need to say that. If she isn’t they will have to corroborate. I know her. I don’t think she is lying,” he tweeted.
He was referring to top White House aide Tony Ornato and Bobby Engel, head of Trump’s Secret Service detail, who told Hutchinson about an alleged fit by Trump after he was told he could not travel to the Capitol on Jan. 6 after his speech at the Ellipse near the White House. The president attempted to grab the wheel of the vehicle he was in and lunged for Engel’s throat, Hutchinson testified, citing what she had heard from Ornato.
The most striking takeaway from the hearing came from Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) when she revealed graphics detailing alleged pressure from Trump allies on witnesses before the committee, Mulvaney underscored. She did not divulge who had been pressured or who did the pressuring, instead showing transcripts of the alleged remarks.
“The Press is going to focus on some sensational revelations from today: guns, grabbing a secret service agent, etc. But the real bomb that got dropped was the implied charge of witness tampering. If there is hard evidence, that is a serious problem for the former President,” he said.
“Cheney’s closing is stunning: they think they have evidence of witness tampering and obstruction of justice. There is an old maxim: it’s never the crime, it’s always the coverup. Things went very badly for the former President today. My guess is that it will get worse from here,” Mulvaney said.
https://twitter.com/January6thCmte/status/1541857797314383874?s=20&t=0TOTqbIcvRaOK_Cv3qMGqA
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Mulvaney served as acting chief of staff for Trump from January 2019 to March 2020 and was later moved to serve as the United States special envoy for Northern Ireland. During his years in the Trump administration, he staunchly defended Trump on multiple occasions. Since his departure, he has levied criticism against his former boss and was hired as a contributor to CBS in March.
Meadows stopped cooperating with the committee last year, but not before he turned over documents such as private communications to the committee that they have used during the hearings. Text messages sent to him were leaked to the press earlier in the year. Meadows declined to appear for testimony and was held in contempt of Congress, though the Justice Department has so far declined to pursue charges against him.
