The Other Shoe Drops
Cassidy Hutchinson is the surprise witness scheduled to testify this afternoon in a hastily arranged hearing of the House Jan. 6 committee.
The committee wasn’t expected to hold any additional hearings until next month, but it hurriedly announced yesterday a new hearing today, without revealing who the witness would be.
Who Is Hutchinson And What Does She Know?
The aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows claims to have been present for multiple key meetings and events between Election Day 2020 and Jan. 6, 2021.
For more on Hutchinson:
Punchbowl: “Having covered Meadows and the Trump White House, we can tell you that Hutchison was in the middle of almost everything that happened in the West Wing, so she’s a hugely important witness. Count on it.”
Playbook: “Hutchinson was always going to be a crucial witness, and seemed likely to go public in one of the committee’s July hearings.”
Politico: “It’s unclear why the panel expedited Hutchinson’s hearing, or whether she will appear alongside other significant witnesses.”
Let’s Clear Up Some Confusion
We’re getting a clearer picture of what DOJ is up to in the Jan. 6 probes. This gets a little murky so I’ll try to keep it simple.
There appear to be two distinct DOJ investigations under way into the “higher ups” involved in Jan. 6: (1) a typical grand jury investigation that seems to be focused on the fake Trump electors scheme; and (2) a DOJ inspector general probe of misconduct by department officials.
Those two separate and distinct probes got jumbled together in recent days in the coverage of the raid on former Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark’s home and the seizure of John Eastman’s cell phone. Those two overt law enforcement activities happened on the same day last week and seem to be tied to the IG’s investigation and not the grand jury probe.
Eastman in particular is highly exercised by the seizure of his cell phone by federal agents while he was at a restaurant in New Mexico. Clark, as you’ll recall, was loudly complaining about not even being able to change out of his pjs while federal agents searched his home.
Eastman is not a DOJ official and wasn’t at the time of the election subversion effort, so he appears to be a witness in the IG probe, not a target. Clark, on the other hand, was a DOJ official at the relevant time and was deeply involved in the coup-ing.
Stay tuned on this.
Tucker Tries To Cast Eastman As A Martyr
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Horrific
SAN ANTONIO — A tractor-trailer found near Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio contained the bodies of 46 dead people, along with 16 others who have been taken to hospitals, local officials in San Antonio said on Monday evening.
“This is nothing short of a horrific human tragedy,” San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at a news conference near the scene.
Gov. Greg Abbott used his personal Twitter account to blame it all on Biden:
New Levels Of Impunity
In central Ukraine, 36 people are still unaccounted for after a Russian missile strike on a shopping killed at least 18.
Haunting
AP: “A 101-year-old man was convicted in Germany of 3,518 counts of accessory to murder on Tuesday for serving at the Nazis’ Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II.”
Just In This Morning
A small spacecraft launched from New Zealand early this morning aiming to test out a new lunar orbit in anticipation of future manned missions to the moon.
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So, here’s the thing:
The live, public hearings are presenting evidence and filling in many of the gaps in OUR knowledge of what happened before, on, and after January 6th.
But it’s also filling in those same gaps in the minds of Jan6th witnesses who have already testified or been deposed. They’re seeing the walls closing in on Trump, his minions and his family. They’re getting scared. They’re getting better lawyers. And they’re going to start telling things publicly, just to get the Trump stink off of them before he goes down in flames, so they can possibly continue to have careers, and/or stay out of prison.
Remember at the end of the last hearing, where Liz Cheney made a plea to people to come forward? That was the committee’s version of a “Fire Sale.”
Cassidy Hutchinson might be saying things publicly (possibly even things recently new to the committee) about Trump’s whereabouts, actions and comments to his inner circle on January 6th while the attack was happening.
Oh, and…FRIST!!!
[ED: “Hutchinson has testified before the panel four times, including once within the last 10 days.”]
Waiting for the day when the anti-immigration crowd decides to mention the people who hire migrant workers. Why, I bet there are even some in Texas!
THRID!!
Forth11!!11
Really want big Bombshells in the hearing today!
And blow UP in the faces of many goopers.
5th