The Cassidy Hutchinson testimony might as well be part of the script for an episode of the "The Sopranos," titled "The Mob Comes to Washington." And the White House is used as the set. I suspect Trump and Passantino now call Hutchinson a snitch.
Of course she's a rare hero in this sleazy drama, someone who found the courage under enormous pressure to do the right thing.
I hope she won’t have “some things happen to her!” I hope she has some kind of security. The mob is crazy and will likely threaten her or worse. Brave woman.
She to can sue for defamation, harassment, WITNES TAMPERING. She seems brave, she is figuring life out. She needs to join the other women TFG has tried to destroy. The man is a menace to society.
Yes, indeed a menace to society, a danger, in fact. What do we do with people who are a danger to society? We put them in jail, right, if the jury judges them guilty. No discussion necessary. Seems quite clear.
Was thinking the same thing. I am pretty sure she cannot show her face anywhere without fear of being shot and killed. I am sure she knew something of what was to become her, once she decided to come clean. And this very thing cries out that heads have to roll. They just have to. Alot of heads. And that includes Gym Jordan and some other Congressional cohorts, who helped create this kind of mob atmosphere. Let's see some great big lawsuits.
I agree. I want to see some heads roll. If Jack does his job well (and I have no doubt he will), the "balance of power" in the House may swing back to the Dems when Jordan, Gaetz, Boebert, Greene, Gosar, Biggs, and others face the music.
It’s not just TFG, it’s about “Trumpworld”. Who paid Stefanio? Why? To cover their contribution to the J6 plot/conspiracy/sedition. Going to take years to unwind this mess.
I am wondering why Trump is not being charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Seven people died in connection with the January 6 insurrection, and Trump supported the aims of the Proud Boys to kill his vice president Sean Pence.
All of this proves that Trump is a sick ticket and should never have been within miles of the White House. He should be imprisoned and stripped of his USA citizenship.
That would probably give them more protection than the average "Russian" soldier. Remember this is an "Ethnic War" too. Putin wants more Slavs and is stealing Ukrainian children to turn them into Russians and killing any "Slav" who does not get with the program. He is trying to mainly send non-Slavic peoples to the frontlines, but a few of the poor ones and the ones in prison will have to be sacrificed. It is supposed to be all of the people in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus together as the Russians, with him having accomplished the setup for the breeding program. Under Hitler such a program was called Lebensborn, and blonde haired, blue eyed women were mated with men with the same characteristics and then the children were raised in Nazi nurseries. However, Hitler himself would not have fit into this ideal of his because he had darker hair. Putin has the advantage in that he is trying to replicate himself. He is just like every one of the replacement theory conspiracists nutjobs that exist all over the White World.
It’s difficult to think that the high moral compass’ of both Cassidy Hutchinson & Liz Cheney could endanger them but these revealed facts read like an unnerving novel of incredibly powerful, wealthy and above all corrupt people. BUT it’s not fiction and damn bone-chilling to see what was done and what was almost the end of our democracy as we know it.
That's why legal experts are saying that investigating and prosecuting those guilty, directly or indirectly, of witness tampering must be indicted and convicted. If there's accountability it tends to discourage blaming people for being willing to tell the truth.
Yes Pat - it seems obvious that this cannot go unpunished. There must be anti-mob laws on the books that speak to this reality, where good people have their livelihood ruined and their live endangered, only for speaking the truth.
If it has come to that, it's not far different from the Putin world. Two Russians who travelled all the way to England just to admire the spire of Salisbury Cathedral...nothing to do with Sergei Skripal and his daughter, found poisoned and unconscious on a park bench and now obliged to assume new identities just to stay alive.
I totally agree with you. It IS sad that it has come to this. What else is sad is that we will have to put up with all of the garbage coming from the House after January 3rd. Our tax dollars at work paying the salaries of Jordan and his ilk. No work to help the American people and a lot of venom and vitriol is what we can expect.
I have long been angry that taxpayers have to support the likes of Gym, Gangrene and Blight Barbie. Also the House will accomplish nothing but a R dumpster fire with lots of yelling and screaming while throwing gas on the fire.
Victoria, I live in dread for what the next two years will bring! At a time when the U.S. will face challenges from around the world, our Congress will be in neutral gear, spinning wheels when it should be protecting our country and advancing a Democratic agenda!
Michael, check out the first 7 1/2 minutes of tonight's "Alex Wagner Tonight" which tells Cassidy Hutchinson's scary path, her moral angst & strong desire to be able to "look in a mirror" in the years ahead. Cassidy knew nothing of Watergate but, figured there must have been in the someone like herself in the Nixon Administration with same role & access at the top. Cassidy settled on Alexander Butterfield & got a book on Alexander's revelation (the tapes) and read it "3 times". The rest is as HCR reported.
Two days ago, Professor Joyce Vance was explaining how a Prosecutor selects witnesses that jurors can understand & identify with to sort out what 'she said' (Cassidy) what Meadows lied about, what the Secret Service falsified & tf'g's knowledge of expected J6 violence.
Ms. Hutchinson, I would like to introduce you to Jack Smith.
“Meanwhile, Hamilton, in Federalist No. 1, said the greatest danger to republics and the liberties of the people comes from political opportunists who begin as demagogues and end as tyrants and from the people who are encouraged to follow them. “President Trump may not know a lot about the Framers,” I told the Senate, “but they certainly knew a lot about him.”
― Jamie Raskin, Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy
HIghly recommend Raskin's book, following up on Fern's quote from it. The Audible version is deeply moving because he reads it and to hear him talk about his son's suicide in utterly heartbreaking. And yet, it is also revelatory about a father's love and fierce will to live and work in a way that would make his amazing son, Tommy, proud.
Laura, thank you for recommending the audible version of Raskin’s book. I’ve only listened to the beginning but I’m already crying. To hear his voice, listen to his choice of quotes, is to feel that he wrote this book for all of us, for loss and grief are inevitable parts of our lives. His empathy and sharing are what makes him a human being who understands every person, on this planet, beyond what separates us, too, is humanity. That’s what makes him amazing. And courageous.
Lawrence O'Donnell then reported on his interview of Butterfield and subsequently being able to connect Hutchinson and Butterfield to talk to each other.
Ellie, I heard this today, too. So glad you shared the link. We need to know there are people in government, including repubs, who take risks to do the right thing. Cassidy Hutchinson was right to be afraid. She has courage.
It's easy to see how Cassidy could get swept up in the scandal. It appears that others involved did not do as much "soul searching" as she did regarding testimony. I'd like to think if I were in her shoes, I would come to the same conclusion. She is one very brave woman and she can sleep well at night, knowing she did the right thing for our country. As far as her safety goes, I hope and pray she is being protected.
Thanks, Jeanne. Yes, Hutchinson is singular in her self-reflecton, initiative, smarts, and courage. I, too, hope I'd have done the same thing but so many around her did not that it makes me wonder if I'd have had the courage she shows.
Thank you, Ellie, for this link. What an incredible story. I tuned in to Alex last night just as this story was winding down. So glad to see it in full. What a story of personal courage and self reflection from one of the “foot soldiers”. And an inspiration to all for finding courage to do the right thing when the stakes are huge. She will write a book, there will be a movie of course, but her core contribution will always be the key to the fall of Trump.
Ellie Kona -- Journalism in one of its highest forms to put Hutchinson and Butterfield together!! Very impressive activity. Makes me want to really go back and review the Butterfield "years".
Unfortunately, no; his "instant disbarment" will have to await his trial and conviction and, as we've seen with other parts of the plot, that will not happen for a long time, if ever.
Disbarment is generally in the state where you are licensed. Authority to practic in a specific Federal District, as I recall for vfc example, in the US District Court, Northern California was by motion of the Court. FYI, Federal sanctions can be severe that's a Hearing not a Trial.
Thank God for a courageous young woman like Cassidy Hutchinson. She can look at herself many years from now, knowing she dud what she had to do. tRump and his enablers definitely constitute a mob engaged in criminal conspiracy.
Are there going to be any more such courageous people who will expose more of the radical conspiracies to break our government, so that it cannot work to protect ordinary people?
Read through his bio on this link. He's nothing but a professional shill and legal protector of countless unnamed Dark Money entities. I'd posit that he had a hand in Citizens United in some form or another. THAT law needs to go (once the Supreme Court is again populated by non-radical Federalists).
.. and quite a few of the mob are behind bars now, and who is NOT, and should have been a long time ago, as the ringleader of the attack on the Capitol?
I just watched Lawrence O'Donnell's commentary about Hutchinson and how she was inspired by Alexander Butterfield's brave testimony in the Watergate hearings. Butterfield confirmed the existence of a secret taping system that Nixon used. Hutchinson contacted one of O'Donnell's colleagues to find and then meet with Butterfield, who is now 96. Fascinating how history connects to and influences the present. https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-cassidy-hutchinson-did-not-want-a-lawyer-from-trump-world-158570053717
O'Donnell also reported that Passantino has resigned from the law firm that employed him.
No doubt he was asked to leave. No reputable firm will welcome that type of publicity. Only the Guilianis of the world are clueless (or drunk) enough to believe the TFG star isn't about to lose its luster.
Cassidy has learned to navigate the labyrinth, and was canny enough to contact O'Donnell, who knew exactly the path she needed to follow. Smart girl.
I hope she is getting the help and protection from these thugs that she so richly deserves! It is no mean feat to have the courage to stand up to such politically powerful people. God bless and keep you safe, Ms. Hutchinson!
If I knew how to send a message to Hutchinson, I would praise her for adhering to her convictions and honoring her integrity in ways most men (maybe all men) who worked in that administration did not and still have not. Her realization of her mistake in trusting Passantino (who’s now in deep trouble) and by extension her recognition of the deep, deep corruption of tfg’s sycophants, and her willingness to fix her testimony, is truly admirable in a woman so young.
Reminds me of the even younger DARNELLA FRAZIER, born 2003, who took the steady, 8 minute, cell phone video of George Floyd 's death, one of the most remarkable exhibits in the history of American criminal law.
I am calling this soap opera, "The Republican Party." Every soap has regular climaxes. I would include in this the law suits of Dominian and Smartomatic against Fox News.
Murdoch likes to say he does not know what is going on with the evil doings of his companies, but he cannot claim that here. I repeat, Murdoch is an enemy agent and he should be stripped of his US citizenship. Let him take Fox News back to Australia where he comes from and be the big fish in the smaller sea. That soap opera could be called, "Fox News." In fact, if he claims it is a soap opera just called Fox News then he can perhaps save himself by pretending that nothing it says is real intentionally because it is not a real news show, but more a parody of news like SNL. However, SNL never got people to riot and try to overthrow the USA government. He has a big role to play in that.
Cassidy Hutchinson has defined integrity that which seems to be lacking in many Republicans and completely lacking in the trump world. How mafia like could it get? If they act like criminals and talk like criminals they are criminals the whole bunch of them. If those lawyers do not end up in orange jump suits they most certainly should be disbarred.
The Mob did indeed come to Washington (or were already there), and likely stole quite a bit of money since one of them remains in charge of the Fed, and now?
Here is today's NY Times open letter from Adam Schiff highlighting the role of the mobsters (Republican Congress members).
Yes. And as the investigations peel back this onion of corruption and treason, more and more former Trump "loyalists" will be jumping ship and offering damning details. Not out of some sense of justice and patriotism ala Hutchinson. But to save their sorry butts. Jack Smith will be holding some feet to the fire and it will be painful.
I’m not sure if Hutchinson is a hero. Everyone needs to be honest. Her story is also a good lessen for all young people. Who you go to work for & how long, can say a lot about your character.
Or as an old Hollywood Legend I was privileged to know once pointed out, "the purpose of a character test is to see if you have any."
Cassidy Hutchinson knew what could happen if she followed her conscience. It was like in "The Empire Strikes Back" where Darth Vader tells Luke "come to the Dark Side, it's easier."
William Goldman wrote in his book "Adventures in the Screen Trade" about a scene he wrote for "A Bridge Too Far" that showed that sometimes it is impossible for a movie to tell the real story. It involved the taking of the second bridge. The Germans were on the far side of the river, in control of the explosives to blow up the bridge they needed to capture. The event was described by an officer who was there as "the bravest act I ever saw." They had to make an assault in collapsible boats across the river, under fire. There weren't enough boats, so they had to do it in two trips. The first guys got in the boats and started paddling. They had a pretty good idea what awaited, but not certainty... maybe the Germans would run away... maybe the Germans would surrender... maybe they wouldn't be killed. The Germans shot the shit out of the first wave. Bodies filled the stream by the time the surviving boats returned to pick up the second wave. Who had watched what happened to the first guys. That's when "the bravest act I ever saw" happened. The guys got in the boats, knowing what awaited, and made the assault, and won the bridge. (The reason it couldn't be filmed was because the commander was being played by Robert Redford and you can't have the star standing there yelling "You guys! Go! Good luck!")
Anyone who stayed with TFG after Charlottesville, after Helsinki, after the perfect phone call, failed the test(s) in my book. It was only after she realized the threat was to herself that she finally did the right thing. Telling the truth is always righteous, but I’m not calling her a hero. A hero acts on the behalf of others well-being without regard for their own.
I agree, Ted. We rush too quickly to label someone a hero, perhaps b/c we want someone else to be that person. Pence is another example. He "went along" with tfg from the beginning and for his own benefit.
It's like Hutchinson decided to weigh both sides of the situation. She is most likely still a right-wing policy wonk, but she was confronted, as I think so many Republicans have been as well, with her conscience. SHE, to her credit, searched her conscience. One has to decide between party/power/perks/political philosophy and doing everything to further that end, OR, doing what is morally and ethically right when the party apparatus you have aligned yourself with totally goes off the rails. To anyone with an ounce of moral fortitude the choice will be clear. She obviously dithered a bit and reached out to whoever and whatever she could to give her some kind of direction. As HCR so often shows us, history can be a great guide, and Hutchinson at least had the intelligence of mind to search for clues of what to do by turning to the Watergate era. In a similar way, participants in that scandal had to weigh the same kinds of "sides of a coin" as Hutchinson was confronted with: to search their consciences and do what was, in the end, the right choice morally and ethically. Tell the truth. She chose Alexander Butterfield's testimony as a guide. Even though she is most likely still a Republican in heart & soul, she does show how some of them DO possess a soul and a conscience. It's a pity more of them can't show a similar spine and backbone as Cassidy Hutchinson and stand up for what is right.
I’m not sure of your definition of heroism. “ Everyone needs to be honest.” Yes, she got a good job in a bad place, but when she realized the truth about it, she did the really hard thing and let her conscience guide her. Can you even imagine being a young woman, emphasis on both of those words, and standing up against such power? That took incredible inner and moral strength.
The Giraffe Heroes Project (giraffe.org), founded in 1981, defines heroes as people who stick their necks out for the common good. They've recognized hundreds, if not thousands, of people worldwide for their heroism over the years. It'd be interesting to see if Hutchinson would pass their definition.
There’s a difference between preconceived notions of who you go to work for and what you discover once there. To come forward as she did required moral self examination at great personal sacrifice. She passed the hero test in my book
Also, we need to remember that she will be looking over her shoulder for years. Trump always seeks to punish his enemies, and who knows who among his cult followers might seek to harm Hutchinson. We can debate the meaning of heroism, but there's no question that she risked everything to expose the crimes of Trump and his aides. Hutchinson performed a public service for the entire nation.
Michael, I've often wondered what her connections are. I'm thrilled at her integrity and gumption, but I'd love to know her back story. When you see someone that young in such a high-profile position, it is just assumed that they must have had someone powerful introduce them. This comment is not to diminish Hutchinson in any way, but I'd love to have insight into her journey. Whatever her origins, I'm sure Meadows and tFg had no clue that she possessed backbone and integrity. So much for considering women to be playthings that can be dismissed.
As for "The Mob Comes to Washington," consider that Donald and his father played footsies with the mob for decades to grease the skids for their business, then factor in Greg Olear's tale of (The) Don's adventures and connections to the underworld, including Kellyanne Conway's connection.
Hutchinson worked for Meadows the entire time. What was Meadows doing for TFG? Organizing a premeditated coup for almost year! She was in the know. It wasn’t until her third committee testimony that she came clean. Let that sink in. While she eventually came clean and should be commended, we need to learn a lot more before calling her a hero. Read Joyce Vance to get a little glimpse of how far we still have to go down this horrible rabbit hole.
Ted. Thanks for Joyce's summary of the report. Agree that there is much yet to uncover and Jack Smith is for now the last step to get the conviction(s) we hope for. I hold a lower standard for hero than you do, perhaps. Ms Hutchinson acted heroically when it mattered and at some peril to herself. We need more heros like her who look in the mirror and not only are embarrassed by what they may have been party to but do something about it when it is in their power to do so. Unlike Pence, she was not elected to do the decision-making in the administration. She was a corporal who went back for the bodies, not a leader or legal counsel. So, I'm good with saying she is a hero and hope that our doing so brings out more heros from the administration and the IRS and Justice Department and Ethics Offices, for instance.
So many villains, so much lying, creating crisis, chaos, a coup where people died and Capital Police committed suicide…. Has made us desperate for a hero for just being honest her 3rd time to the plate. The heros are Officer Sidnik, Goodman, Fanone, etc…ALL those that held the line, then Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. I’m still proud of Cass, just more reserved than the herd till I hear more of her testimony.
Nice to know Raskin will be ranking member on Oversight. He IS brilliant and handles himself like someone driving a Boxster (a car that handles exceptionally well). His mother would be so proud.
And the Trumpers are looking worse every day! On the time scale of Nixon, it's the end of July, 1974. Or maybe it's August!
Jamie Raskin as the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee with Majorie Taylor Greene and Jim ‘Pit Bull’ Jordan Is the greatest substantive mismatch since the Phillies faced The Yankees in the 1950 World Series (4-0 Yankees).
The Republicans will be able to vote their squeaky majority on the Oversight Committee, as they plunge into Benghazi-type investigations, but razor-shape Raskin will expose their blustering and bull shit in any televised hearings. I am prepared to watch this 2023 Animal House, perhaps with Jim Jordan as John Belushi. But this will not be slapstick humor.
He's another one with extraordinary moral fibre. He lost his son because of the unbearable state of the country under Trump (COVID, Floyd, Trump's lies) - and managed to endure, through the most terrible grief, because of his determination that the democracy should be saved. There are some wonderful people on the Select Committee, and elsewhere among the Democrats. The truth must prevail.
Yes, I too, feel immense gratitude to every member of the committee. In fact also to the Democrats and Nancy Pelosi and her years as Speaker of the House. Watching Pelosi and Kamela Harris standing and honoring Volodymyr Zelensky, I was overwhelmed with emotion.
Jeri I taught Watergate for years and had the then=CIA Director Richard Helms factually check my extensive write up for my students, few who had been born in 1972.
My write up included: “Not whether, but when, this will happen again.’ Indeed, though I was on the Nixon White Hour Enemies List, what Trump and his slug foots have done is far, far worse. Sadly I believe that he is most likely to be criminally convicted in his Fulton County calumny.
You weren’t stupid but undoubtedly young (I know I was naive) and more trusting of the institutions and systems in place at the time. I had 2 older brothers who were a lot more skeptical!
I'd love to see him run for President when the timing is right. He is brilliant, determined, an eloquent communicator, unflappable, able to concentrate even in the face of personal disaster, and handles others with a sense of humor and a twinkle in his eye.
How distressing to witness malicious intent, vengeful efforts to hamstring government by the GOP. What a contrast to the continued achievements of Biden and his administration. A report just noted that the average American life expectancy just dropped again by a few months. While Biden demonstrates how much good government can do, the GOP is hell bent on subterfuge and even destruction of government. Instead, government could finally enact universal Healthcare to raise life expectancy. We could improve infrastructure, reform and regulate industry to better lives. Such is still far off. Sad.
True enough. Yet they will hold the House majority for the next two years. I can't understand why voters choose the "burn it all down" option. Bite the nose off to spite the face.
The House R majority may get even smaller as that NY House Rep-elect, Santos ( if that is his name ) may never reach his seat. NY state AG is investigating.
Bryan I was gobsmacked by the story of congressman-elect Santos in Long Island’s Nassau County. He was defeated in 2020 and won in 2022. Now it turns out that his resume was a full of holes as Swiss cheese. His family Jewish link to the Holocaust was absolutely false. His employment with Citicorp and Goldman Sachs didn’t happen. The magical company from which he purportedly received a $750,000 annual salary didn’t seem to exist,,,and on and on.
How the Democrats and the press didn’t pick this up in opposition research over two campaigns leaves me flabbergasted.
Whatever the NY Attorney General chooses to do, there is no way that a Republican-dominated House committee will block the seating on Santos, whose vote is essential to their razor-thin majority.
Understand Keith as I have followed Substack's Jay Kuo's detailed analyses on Santos ( if that is his name ). The investigation is very hot, Santos is attempting to re-register his corp alter ego in NY. Campaign financing violations, multiple violations are being ivestigated. A phony resume is the least of his problems right now. You cannot sit in the House if you are sitting in jail. I am not clear on the NY Governor's power to appoint a repalcement if Santos' maquerade(s) blows him up.
NYT follow up this morning: Santos worked in call center @$13/hour while mother was cleaning houses. Various law suits for skipping on rent and/or debt. Talk of fancy houses, while sharing minimal apartments. His claim to have graduated from NYU seems specious. Seems to have been married and divorced. Irving with male companion, but no one seems certain as to where. Possibly fashionable Huntington, not in his congressional district.
Ooooh-so good to hear! How Santos was able to get this far defies imagining. I admit legal ignorance, but I truly hope his distortions and outright lies prevent him from serving in public office.
The GOP cares about power - to preserve their dominance over a rapidly changing, more diverse population. They see the world as a zero sum game. They don't want to share the pie. If only they could be disabused of this notion.
If only they could see that the success of an immigrant who works hard and pays taxes actually adds to the pie! If only they could see that truly equal education for ALL makes for a more prosperous society in which even they gain.
Instead, the GOP became the GQP which espouses fear, bigotry, hate and lies. And murder by WMDs in the hands of kids.
... When it comes to global warming, the GOP is in denial. When it comes to mass immigration, the DEms are in denial.
By 1980, black meat packers had long since organized themselves into predominated in the trade, and earning good middle class wages. But immigration surged in the '80s, and by that decade's end, immigrants predominated in meat packing, earning barely more than minimum wage, and toiling under atrocious conditions. That's the way the big companies wanted it. Cheap labor.
Wages stagnated in the trades for 40 years, or even dropped. See: Back of the Hiring Line: A 200-Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias, and Depression of Black Wealth ($13 on amazon). The book is solid, covering the academic economic history, black periodicals, statements from black leaders, and gov't commissions on immigration reform (296 footnotes). The book shows that as immigration has kept surging these past 40 years, white workers and longer term immigrant workers have suffered the same fate as black workers.
In the last of the latter, 1996, Barbara Jordan, the black texas democrat who made her name on the House Watergate Committee, recommended cutting immigration roughly in half (it reached a million annually in 1991) and strict enforcement of immigration laws (deporting people here illegally). Alas, she died soon after she finished her work. Had her recommendations been followed, we probably never would have had trump, whose signature issue was immigration.
Arlie Hochschild, who wrote Strangers in Their Own Land, her investigation of Republican views in Louisiana, where she spent five years commuting there from Berkeley, to get to know these people, wrote that they see immigrants and blacks (preferential treatment) as cutting into the line to the American dream. It's partially true, in that mass immigration creates an oversupply of cheap labor that takes jobs from American workers and suppresses the wages.
After passage of New Deal legislation, the Republicans immediately began to work to get rid of those laws like Social Security. Think how they currently want to sunset Social Security. Their dominating thought are: 1) Every man for himself. 2) What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine also. Totally morally bankrupt, most of them.
The conversations encouraging Ms. Hutchinson to lie are straight out of a "Godfather" film - - or any real life mob boss, bully, or dictator. I'm looking forward to the rest of your analysis of the J6 report. Thank you for keeping us informed, Heather.
There was a hot show Treasury Secretary under Trump, named Steve Mnuchin, former Goldman Sachs big wig. He should be held directly accountable for the IRS not auditing Trump returns, and also for not releasing the tax returns to Neal when asked as the law clearly states Congress had a right to them if requested. So, hold the big guy at the top accountable for a change. Do not even think about chiding the lower level employees at the IRS who were clearly cowed by Trump. Dealing with the likes of Trump was above their pay grade and should have been kicked upstairs to those who could deal with him.
You are absolutely correct. Lower level IRS employees, as in Revenue Agents, don’t get to select who they audit. It is illegal for them to do that. Their case load MUST be assigned by supervisors. Normally, a return of his size would be audited by a team of no less than 5 people. To assign one person is insane and clearly against IRS procedures. So who ordered it that way? One or two guesses and I would start with Mnuchin and IRS commissioner Rettig, appointed by trump. They happen to be in real estate together, a 50/50 deal in Hawaii. As trump’s name caused loss of business, what do you suppose that did to business receipts? Think that guy in charge of the IRS wanted an audit that would further erode the receipts? I suspect not. And keep in mind, Rettig was a high-priced tax attorney for people just like trump prior to being appointed to the IRS. In other words, his job prior to the IRS was FIGHTING IRS audits in court to get his wealthy clients off the hook!
Tfg’s best skill was finding the wiliest most perfect Fox to put in charge of every hen house in his administration. He never faltered from his goal of deconstruction of the administrative state
I notice that Mnuchin's name hasn't come up. They have named all of the IRS commissioners who won't take responsibility.
The numbers I've seen for taxes paid by TFG should have triggered an audit. Going from paying little or no taxes to a rather large amount (2019?) usually catches someone's eye.
I hope that one day we learn the full picture of how Trump, using millions upon millions of dollars donated by his cult, paid the legal fees of so many cronies to buy them off. Did the MAGAs know they were financing high-paid lawyers all based on the biggest lie in American history?
Given that Assistant Coach Gym Jordan and Our Little Margie Traitor Goon don't have enough brains combined to fill a thimble, watching Raskin run intellectual circles around them will be funny. Pass the popcorn.
For those interested, Talking Points memo has PDFs on download of the Committee Final Report and all the witness transcripts. The two for Cassidy Hutchinson are some of the most amazing reading you'll run across. I wrote about her at length over at TAFM tonight. A true American Hero.
The committee report has been written to be extremely readable by "non-lawyers" according to those who have already started reading it. Just looking at the chapter titles, it's obvious someone who knows how to put out quality non-fiction in a fictional thriller format was in charge of the project. As Lawrence said, the best-written government report he's aware of.
Thank you Dr Richardson for guiding us through this mess with facts rather than red herrings. It’s pretty clear that most Republican legislators do not understand the meaning of public service or honesty. I wonder what their tax returns look like. 🧐Jordan and his ilk ruling the Judiciary committee will be constant lies. The GOP is circling the drain, hanging on with threats and empty promises and lack of a conscience and fake poll numbers. Ms. Hutchinson is a shining example to other republicans that it’s possible to clear your brain of the overwhelming swamp that is trump world conservatism. It’s not easy because of tabloid news reporting. When the red herring polls come out, ask yourself “how many of these 1000 respondents are brainwashed trolls?” LFAA is the gift that keeps on giving. I am so grateful for her and you comment writers for getting me through this nightmare.
“… chimps at play in the trees, shitting in their hands and eating it. “ FIFY
Sorry to be so gross, but when you witness this behaviour at the zoo, and have a chimp maintain eye contact the whole time, it is clearly obvious most Republicans have yet to evolve. (I apologize to all pan troglodytes reading this comment.)
Isn’t it perjury when, under oath, a person testifies she doesn’t know information she really knows?
If so, doesn’t that mean that attorney Passantino suborned Cassidy Hutchinson to commit perjury in his advising her regarding her testimony before the 1/6 committee? Isn’t his promise “We’ll take care of you…”, clearly witness tampering?
It seems to me that DoJ could bring RICO charges against TFG and many members of his administration’s staff. They fit anybody’s definition of a corrupt organization.
Kudos to Cassidy Hutchinson for having the integrity, and courage, to present the truth to the 1/6 committee.
If there’s any doubt our two party system needs a recharge, reread today’s letter. Democrats are passing legislation and governing, with good news somewhat overshadowed by a number of repubs stuck on obstruction. Is it a continuation of TFG’s years, as an “unofficial” mob boss, threatening and violating any ethics rules of government? The fear Cassidy Hutchinson expressed, working in “Trump world” with attorney Stefan Passantino and Mark Meadows, who advised her on the art of lying, is evidence that the Whitehouse corruption needs to be fully investigated and prosecuted. TFG’s years in entertainment continued after he was elected. Corruption out in the open and still support from his party. But the good news: the reports and recommendations from the January 6 Committee will be part of the DOJ’s investigations and prosecution. Gratitude to the members of that bipartisan committee for their dedication to Truth, Justice, Democracy, and our Constitution. Onward.
Huzzah for Heather! Thank you for your column today! Huzzah for Jamie Raskin! Thank you for being on the House Oversight Committee! Huzzah for Cassidy Hutchinson! Thank you for your honesty and courage!
I have the shorter version of the findings of the January 6 Committee and lots of reading to do.
Good question. They fed off his power and willingness to use it for the hate that they embrace. I suspect even they know his power is waning fast and his chances of re-election are nil.
What sort of drop gate, Pat? You mean like on a gallows? He might not last too long behind bars in any case, and I would be happy if he had some time to ponder what a mess he has made of things.
Sorry David I am a primitive relic. The jerk at the end of the rope should also convince his wolf pack to find easier prey. I hate to throw good money away keeping him in a cage. I am a true conservative. He has left many lives hanging by a thread. He made his own rope. Dropping or dragging, either way poetic justice.
Probably the latter, cults don’t deprogram themselves. I imagine most have those eyes and ears covered and the brain busy with Q Schitt. I know some well…
The Cassidy Hutchinson testimony might as well be part of the script for an episode of the "The Sopranos," titled "The Mob Comes to Washington." And the White House is used as the set. I suspect Trump and Passantino now call Hutchinson a snitch.
Of course she's a rare hero in this sleazy drama, someone who found the courage under enormous pressure to do the right thing.
Such a brave young woman to stand up to power all around her and find her moral and ethical center
I hope she won’t have “some things happen to her!” I hope she has some kind of security. The mob is crazy and will likely threaten her or worse. Brave woman.
Genuinely brave, because she knows fear. I too hope she's being protected.
She to can sue for defamation, harassment, WITNES TAMPERING. She seems brave, she is figuring life out. She needs to join the other women TFG has tried to destroy. The man is a menace to society.
Startling & boggles my mind how this overgrown dangerous petulant child like being still enjoys his freedom.
Yes, indeed a menace to society, a danger, in fact. What do we do with people who are a danger to society? We put them in jail, right, if the jury judges them guilty. No discussion necessary. Seems quite clear.
The man's power would have been minimal had he not been enabled by so many others. This fixation on Trump is understandable but dangerous.
I hope these stinkers are prosecuted for witness tampering and pronto.
Exactly. Fearlessness is not bravery. Bravery is defying fear. Thanks for saying that.
tRump has always been a menace.
Yeah… ask any New Yorker!!!
Was thinking the same thing. I am pretty sure she cannot show her face anywhere without fear of being shot and killed. I am sure she knew something of what was to become her, once she decided to come clean. And this very thing cries out that heads have to roll. They just have to. Alot of heads. And that includes Gym Jordan and some other Congressional cohorts, who helped create this kind of mob atmosphere. Let's see some great big lawsuits.
I agree. I want to see some heads roll. If Jack does his job well (and I have no doubt he will), the "balance of power" in the House may swing back to the Dems when Jordan, Gaetz, Boebert, Greene, Gosar, Biggs, and others face the music.
There are a lot of people, myself included, who really really really hope you're right, Ellen.
Exactly!!’
I think she’s probably a states witness for National Security investigations into more unknown crimes, bribes, illegal who knows what.
It’s not just TFG, it’s about “Trumpworld”. Who paid Stefanio? Why? To cover their contribution to the J6 plot/conspiracy/sedition. Going to take years to unwind this mess.
Their WH Ethics lawyer led the effort, MobWorld indeed. Megamobworld, as only chump could envision…
My thoughts exactly. I fear for her safety.
I am wondering why Trump is not being charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Seven people died in connection with the January 6 insurrection, and Trump supported the aims of the Proud Boys to kill his vice president Sean Pence.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/us/politics/jan-6-capitol-deaths.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-handed-down-death-sentence-pence-january-6-niece-says-2022-6
All of this proves that Trump is a sick ticket and should never have been within miles of the White House. He should be imprisoned and stripped of his USA citizenship.
All of them should be sent to Putin’s frontlines wearing simple tactical gear.
That would probably give them more protection than the average "Russian" soldier. Remember this is an "Ethnic War" too. Putin wants more Slavs and is stealing Ukrainian children to turn them into Russians and killing any "Slav" who does not get with the program. He is trying to mainly send non-Slavic peoples to the frontlines, but a few of the poor ones and the ones in prison will have to be sacrificed. It is supposed to be all of the people in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus together as the Russians, with him having accomplished the setup for the breeding program. Under Hitler such a program was called Lebensborn, and blonde haired, blue eyed women were mated with men with the same characteristics and then the children were raised in Nazi nurseries. However, Hitler himself would not have fit into this ideal of his because he had darker hair. Putin has the advantage in that he is trying to replicate himself. He is just like every one of the replacement theory conspiracists nutjobs that exist all over the White World.
I know all about that. My mother escaped from Berlin.
Lebensraum (just finished a novel SETI WW II Germany).
Yes. And wearing a target on their chests.
Exactly.
It’s difficult to think that the high moral compass’ of both Cassidy Hutchinson & Liz Cheney could endanger them but these revealed facts read like an unnerving novel of incredibly powerful, wealthy and above all corrupt people. BUT it’s not fiction and damn bone-chilling to see what was done and what was almost the end of our democracy as we know it.
That's why legal experts are saying that investigating and prosecuting those guilty, directly or indirectly, of witness tampering must be indicted and convicted. If there's accountability it tends to discourage blaming people for being willing to tell the truth.
Yes Pat - it seems obvious that this cannot go unpunished. There must be anti-mob laws on the books that speak to this reality, where good people have their livelihood ruined and their live endangered, only for speaking the truth.
"bone-chilling" is a perfect way to describe it.
Yup, “it’s not fiction” and THAT is scary.
If it has come to that, it's not far different from the Putin world. Two Russians who travelled all the way to England just to admire the spire of Salisbury Cathedral...nothing to do with Sergei Skripal and his daughter, found poisoned and unconscious on a park bench and now obliged to assume new identities just to stay alive.
I totally agree with you. It IS sad that it has come to this. What else is sad is that we will have to put up with all of the garbage coming from the House after January 3rd. Our tax dollars at work paying the salaries of Jordan and his ilk. No work to help the American people and a lot of venom and vitriol is what we can expect.
I have long been angry that taxpayers have to support the likes of Gym, Gangrene and Blight Barbie. Also the House will accomplish nothing but a R dumpster fire with lots of yelling and screaming while throwing gas on the fire.
Victoria, I live in dread for what the next two years will bring! At a time when the U.S. will face challenges from around the world, our Congress will be in neutral gear, spinning wheels when it should be protecting our country and advancing a Democratic agenda!
Janet R, -- And let us remember that these are two women!
Michael, check out the first 7 1/2 minutes of tonight's "Alex Wagner Tonight" which tells Cassidy Hutchinson's scary path, her moral angst & strong desire to be able to "look in a mirror" in the years ahead. Cassidy knew nothing of Watergate but, figured there must have been in the someone like herself in the Nixon Administration with same role & access at the top. Cassidy settled on Alexander Butterfield & got a book on Alexander's revelation (the tapes) and read it "3 times". The rest is as HCR reported.
Two days ago, Professor Joyce Vance was explaining how a Prosecutor selects witnesses that jurors can understand & identify with to sort out what 'she said' (Cassidy) what Meadows lied about, what the Secret Service falsified & tf'g's knowledge of expected J6 violence.
Ms. Hutchinson, I would like to introduce you to Jack Smith.
“Meanwhile, Hamilton, in Federalist No. 1, said the greatest danger to republics and the liberties of the people comes from political opportunists who begin as demagogues and end as tyrants and from the people who are encouraged to follow them. “President Trump may not know a lot about the Framers,” I told the Senate, “but they certainly knew a lot about him.”
― Jamie Raskin, Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy
HIghly recommend Raskin's book, following up on Fern's quote from it. The Audible version is deeply moving because he reads it and to hear him talk about his son's suicide in utterly heartbreaking. And yet, it is also revelatory about a father's love and fierce will to live and work in a way that would make his amazing son, Tommy, proud.
Unthinkable is a good reporting and analysis of the Trump world leading up to impeachment. Raskin is an excellent choice for Democrat leadership.
I too listened to the Audible version, what an incredible, powerful book. I usually don’t re-read books but this is one I will.
Laura, thank you for recommending the audible version of Raskin’s book. I’ve only listened to the beginning but I’m already crying. To hear his voice, listen to his choice of quotes, is to feel that he wrote this book for all of us, for loss and grief are inevitable parts of our lives. His empathy and sharing are what makes him a human being who understands every person, on this planet, beyond what separates us, too, is humanity. That’s what makes him amazing. And courageous.
His grief, and his will to overcome it by acting...well, not acting, doing his duty as his son would have wanted, permeates the powerful book.
I'll put Raskin's book back on the top of my pile. After I read, "'Twas the Night before Christmas, and all through The House!!!!"
Good. Priorities are so important least we spiral down.
Alex Wagner's report on influence on Cassidy Hutchison by Watergate's Alexander Butterfield:
https://www.msnbc.com/alex-wagner-tonight/watch/to-defy-trump-world-transcript-shows-cassidy-hutchinson-draw-courage-from-history-158579781635
Lawrence O'Donnell then reported on his interview of Butterfield and subsequently being able to connect Hutchinson and Butterfield to talk to each other.
Ellie, I heard this today, too. So glad you shared the link. We need to know there are people in government, including repubs, who take risks to do the right thing. Cassidy Hutchinson was right to be afraid. She has courage.
It's easy to see how Cassidy could get swept up in the scandal. It appears that others involved did not do as much "soul searching" as she did regarding testimony. I'd like to think if I were in her shoes, I would come to the same conclusion. She is one very brave woman and she can sleep well at night, knowing she did the right thing for our country. As far as her safety goes, I hope and pray she is being protected.
Thanks, Jeanne. Yes, Hutchinson is singular in her self-reflecton, initiative, smarts, and courage. I, too, hope I'd have done the same thing but so many around her did not that it makes me wonder if I'd have had the courage she shows.
Super Learning Link Ellie as always, thank you again.
Thank you, Ellie, for this link. What an incredible story. I tuned in to Alex last night just as this story was winding down. So glad to see it in full. What a story of personal courage and self reflection from one of the “foot soldiers”. And an inspiration to all for finding courage to do the right thing when the stakes are huge. She will write a book, there will be a movie of course, but her core contribution will always be the key to the fall of Trump.
I hope you're right, Ned.
Ellie Kona -- Journalism in one of its highest forms to put Hutchinson and Butterfield together!! Very impressive activity. Makes me want to really go back and review the Butterfield "years".
Going back over the Butterfield "years" is exactly what Hutchinson did. Who ... in the future ... will go over the Hutchinson years?
Yes, that was some great TV last night.
Wow
Thank You Ellie.
Thank you for this link.
She's already a cooperating witness with the DOJ since this past summer after her public testimony, according to the transcript.
Does that come with a measure of protection for her?
I would hope far more than just a measure—like, full protection would be well deserved.
YES!!
I will look for it. Thanks.
The main difference between tfg and the mob, is that the mob actually pays its lawyers.
Bloomberg Law reports that STEFAN PASSANTINO has "taken a leave of absence" from his employer, the law firm Michael Best, et al.
Yeah, As Harry Litman pointed out, suborning perjury is "instant disbarment."
What about witness tampering and perjury? Could he be looking at jail time?
He's being investigated. News reports are that he has "resigned" from the Michael Best firm.
Unfortunately, no; his "instant disbarment" will have to await his trial and conviction and, as we've seen with other parts of the plot, that will not happen for a long time, if ever.
But, in the meantime, who will hire him (Passantino).
Disbarment is generally in the state where you are licensed. Authority to practic in a specific Federal District, as I recall for vfc example, in the US District Court, Northern California was by motion of the Court. FYI, Federal sanctions can be severe that's a Hearing not a Trial.
Thank God for a courageous young woman like Cassidy Hutchinson. She can look at herself many years from now, knowing she dud what she had to do. tRump and his enablers definitely constitute a mob engaged in criminal conspiracy.
Are there going to be any more such courageous people who will expose more of the radical conspiracies to break our government, so that it cannot work to protect ordinary people?
Buh bye
But he’s still live on the Republican National Lawyers’ Association! 😂. https://www.rnla.org/7412
Read through his bio on this link. He's nothing but a professional shill and legal protector of countless unnamed Dark Money entities. I'd posit that he had a hand in Citizens United in some form or another. THAT law needs to go (once the Supreme Court is again populated by non-radical Federalists).
.. and quite a few of the mob are behind bars now, and who is NOT, and should have been a long time ago, as the ringleader of the attack on the Capitol?
Hahaha, bet Stefan got his…
I just watched Lawrence O'Donnell's commentary about Hutchinson and how she was inspired by Alexander Butterfield's brave testimony in the Watergate hearings. Butterfield confirmed the existence of a secret taping system that Nixon used. Hutchinson contacted one of O'Donnell's colleagues to find and then meet with Butterfield, who is now 96. Fascinating how history connects to and influences the present. https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-cassidy-hutchinson-did-not-want-a-lawyer-from-trump-world-158570053717
O'Donnell also reported that Passantino has resigned from the law firm that employed him.
Butterfield talking to O'Donnell tonight, about 11 minutes in:
https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-cassidy-hutchinson-did-not-want-a-lawyer-from-trump-world-158570053717
In Butterfield's testimony, it showed one of the committee members speaking to him-Fred Dalton Thompson, later of Law & Order.
No doubt he was asked to leave. No reputable firm will welcome that type of publicity. Only the Guilianis of the world are clueless (or drunk) enough to believe the TFG star isn't about to lose its luster.
Cassidy has learned to navigate the labyrinth, and was canny enough to contact O'Donnell, who knew exactly the path she needed to follow. Smart girl.
I hope she is getting the help and protection from these thugs that she so richly deserves! It is no mean feat to have the courage to stand up to such politically powerful people. God bless and keep you safe, Ms. Hutchinson!
If I knew how to send a message to Hutchinson, I would praise her for adhering to her convictions and honoring her integrity in ways most men (maybe all men) who worked in that administration did not and still have not. Her realization of her mistake in trusting Passantino (who’s now in deep trouble) and by extension her recognition of the deep, deep corruption of tfg’s sycophants, and her willingness to fix her testimony, is truly admirable in a woman so young.
Reminds me of the even younger DARNELLA FRAZIER, born 2003, who took the steady, 8 minute, cell phone video of George Floyd 's death, one of the most remarkable exhibits in the history of American criminal law.
I so agree. Thank you for bringing her forward again!
true dat.
She knew what could happen, she'd seen it happen to others, and she did it anyway. Go to TPM and download her transcripts. Amazing reading.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/live-blog/january-6-committee-transcripts
I am calling this soap opera, "The Republican Party." Every soap has regular climaxes. I would include in this the law suits of Dominian and Smartomatic against Fox News.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/dec/11/rupert-murdoch-fox-dominion-lawsuit-deposition
Murdoch likes to say he does not know what is going on with the evil doings of his companies, but he cannot claim that here. I repeat, Murdoch is an enemy agent and he should be stripped of his US citizenship. Let him take Fox News back to Australia where he comes from and be the big fish in the smaller sea. That soap opera could be called, "Fox News." In fact, if he claims it is a soap opera just called Fox News then he can perhaps save himself by pretending that nothing it says is real intentionally because it is not a real news show, but more a parody of news like SNL. However, SNL never got people to riot and try to overthrow the USA government. He has a big role to play in that.
Australia ran him off. They don’t permit open treason.
So? He moved here where treason is fully supported on one Party.
Cassidy Hutchinson has defined integrity that which seems to be lacking in many Republicans and completely lacking in the trump world. How mafia like could it get? If they act like criminals and talk like criminals they are criminals the whole bunch of them. If those lawyers do not end up in orange jump suits they most certainly should be disbarred.
Michael,
The Mob did indeed come to Washington (or were already there), and likely stole quite a bit of money since one of them remains in charge of the Fed, and now?
Here is today's NY Times open letter from Adam Schiff highlighting the role of the mobsters (Republican Congress members).
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/22/opinion/adam-schiff-jan-6-committee-report-referrals.html?unlocked_article_code=VK_LftuV4bxxXeSpxLxyQbdBq92N9y332sTvgCMRsuQ7bTuPNdDAYsDXNAHoyXlcInlEngPqVGrdPMQJUntgJIW67gjeBJ3t4zV4ROhhW0HPnODd9i01I9kjgA1jmksrv8Cvvv4ItntwN7PLWklvOTw_romxLp8cpsICuOn6Yf095mq5LtQmZ1kTV4WuCOYjFs6qtRmNBRiukqqzbOgD6EBiG2wesQo-5SW4-vAS0l76eoWa26yyLwl5IcRpmGsJU3ZiKTR3TZyarHJeXdCXiqyaooJIbPgSmhJa8Yw6JlKb6RkHyr6IjvKI2FLzBrypuNlhsierUSCNEgWpp5QnLD2lQFOg6hTSPVQgC8TCSGhukeHbFl0&smid=share-url
Plans to move back in to Washington in 2024 and is preparing by golfing at Mara Lago daily.
So, being in the Mob? Worth a lot of money and perhaps the Presidency.
Yes. And as the investigations peel back this onion of corruption and treason, more and more former Trump "loyalists" will be jumping ship and offering damning details. Not out of some sense of justice and patriotism ala Hutchinson. But to save their sorry butts. Jack Smith will be holding some feet to the fire and it will be painful.
I’m not sure if Hutchinson is a hero. Everyone needs to be honest. Her story is also a good lessen for all young people. Who you go to work for & how long, can say a lot about your character.
Or as an old Hollywood Legend I was privileged to know once pointed out, "the purpose of a character test is to see if you have any."
Cassidy Hutchinson knew what could happen if she followed her conscience. It was like in "The Empire Strikes Back" where Darth Vader tells Luke "come to the Dark Side, it's easier."
William Goldman wrote in his book "Adventures in the Screen Trade" about a scene he wrote for "A Bridge Too Far" that showed that sometimes it is impossible for a movie to tell the real story. It involved the taking of the second bridge. The Germans were on the far side of the river, in control of the explosives to blow up the bridge they needed to capture. The event was described by an officer who was there as "the bravest act I ever saw." They had to make an assault in collapsible boats across the river, under fire. There weren't enough boats, so they had to do it in two trips. The first guys got in the boats and started paddling. They had a pretty good idea what awaited, but not certainty... maybe the Germans would run away... maybe the Germans would surrender... maybe they wouldn't be killed. The Germans shot the shit out of the first wave. Bodies filled the stream by the time the surviving boats returned to pick up the second wave. Who had watched what happened to the first guys. That's when "the bravest act I ever saw" happened. The guys got in the boats, knowing what awaited, and made the assault, and won the bridge. (The reason it couldn't be filmed was because the commander was being played by Robert Redford and you can't have the star standing there yelling "You guys! Go! Good luck!")
Cassidy Hutchinson got in the boat.
Makes her a hero in my book, one of precious few in trump world. Rare as the most precious gem, should make a profiles In Courage book all by herself…
Anyone who stayed with TFG after Charlottesville, after Helsinki, after the perfect phone call, failed the test(s) in my book. It was only after she realized the threat was to herself that she finally did the right thing. Telling the truth is always righteous, but I’m not calling her a hero. A hero acts on the behalf of others well-being without regard for their own.
I agree, Ted. We rush too quickly to label someone a hero, perhaps b/c we want someone else to be that person. Pence is another example. He "went along" with tfg from the beginning and for his own benefit.
So many villains, it’s made us desperate for a hero.
Yes, that for sure!
It's like Hutchinson decided to weigh both sides of the situation. She is most likely still a right-wing policy wonk, but she was confronted, as I think so many Republicans have been as well, with her conscience. SHE, to her credit, searched her conscience. One has to decide between party/power/perks/political philosophy and doing everything to further that end, OR, doing what is morally and ethically right when the party apparatus you have aligned yourself with totally goes off the rails. To anyone with an ounce of moral fortitude the choice will be clear. She obviously dithered a bit and reached out to whoever and whatever she could to give her some kind of direction. As HCR so often shows us, history can be a great guide, and Hutchinson at least had the intelligence of mind to search for clues of what to do by turning to the Watergate era. In a similar way, participants in that scandal had to weigh the same kinds of "sides of a coin" as Hutchinson was confronted with: to search their consciences and do what was, in the end, the right choice morally and ethically. Tell the truth. She chose Alexander Butterfield's testimony as a guide. Even though she is most likely still a Republican in heart & soul, she does show how some of them DO possess a soul and a conscience. It's a pity more of them can't show a similar spine and backbone as Cassidy Hutchinson and stand up for what is right.
I’m not sure of your definition of heroism. “ Everyone needs to be honest.” Yes, she got a good job in a bad place, but when she realized the truth about it, she did the really hard thing and let her conscience guide her. Can you even imagine being a young woman, emphasis on both of those words, and standing up against such power? That took incredible inner and moral strength.
The Giraffe Heroes Project (giraffe.org), founded in 1981, defines heroes as people who stick their necks out for the common good. They've recognized hundreds, if not thousands, of people worldwide for their heroism over the years. It'd be interesting to see if Hutchinson would pass their definition.
Interesting project!
This is reply to Ted Keyes.
There’s a difference between preconceived notions of who you go to work for and what you discover once there. To come forward as she did required moral self examination at great personal sacrifice. She passed the hero test in my book
Also, we need to remember that she will be looking over her shoulder for years. Trump always seeks to punish his enemies, and who knows who among his cult followers might seek to harm Hutchinson. We can debate the meaning of heroism, but there's no question that she risked everything to expose the crimes of Trump and his aides. Hutchinson performed a public service for the entire nation.
Hopefully as trump is exposed for having no money, “hit jobs” will be too expensive
Hopefully, if he is barred from holding office, he can’t pardon the assasin
Michael, I've often wondered what her connections are. I'm thrilled at her integrity and gumption, but I'd love to know her back story. When you see someone that young in such a high-profile position, it is just assumed that they must have had someone powerful introduce them. This comment is not to diminish Hutchinson in any way, but I'd love to have insight into her journey. Whatever her origins, I'm sure Meadows and tFg had no clue that she possessed backbone and integrity. So much for considering women to be playthings that can be dismissed.
As for "The Mob Comes to Washington," consider that Donald and his father played footsies with the mob for decades to grease the skids for their business, then factor in Greg Olear's tale of (The) Don's adventures and connections to the underworld, including Kellyanne Conway's connection.
Hutchinson worked for Meadows the entire time. What was Meadows doing for TFG? Organizing a premeditated coup for almost year! She was in the know. It wasn’t until her third committee testimony that she came clean. Let that sink in. While she eventually came clean and should be commended, we need to learn a lot more before calling her a hero. Read Joyce Vance to get a little glimpse of how far we still have to go down this horrible rabbit hole.
https://open.substack.com/pub/joycevance/p/the-report?r=44kjm&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Ted. Thanks for Joyce's summary of the report. Agree that there is much yet to uncover and Jack Smith is for now the last step to get the conviction(s) we hope for. I hold a lower standard for hero than you do, perhaps. Ms Hutchinson acted heroically when it mattered and at some peril to herself. We need more heros like her who look in the mirror and not only are embarrassed by what they may have been party to but do something about it when it is in their power to do so. Unlike Pence, she was not elected to do the decision-making in the administration. She was a corporal who went back for the bodies, not a leader or legal counsel. So, I'm good with saying she is a hero and hope that our doing so brings out more heros from the administration and the IRS and Justice Department and Ethics Offices, for instance.
So many villains, so much lying, creating crisis, chaos, a coup where people died and Capital Police committed suicide…. Has made us desperate for a hero for just being honest her 3rd time to the plate. The heros are Officer Sidnik, Goodman, Fanone, etc…ALL those that held the line, then Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. I’m still proud of Cass, just more reserved than the herd till I hear more of her testimony.
Thanks for the link to Joyce Vance's substack.
I was thinking the same! It feels like a mob boss situation.
Nice to know Raskin will be ranking member on Oversight. He IS brilliant and handles himself like someone driving a Boxster (a car that handles exceptionally well). His mother would be so proud.
And the Trumpers are looking worse every day! On the time scale of Nixon, it's the end of July, 1974. Or maybe it's August!
Now if only we can stanch carbon emissions.
Jamie Raskin as the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee with Majorie Taylor Greene and Jim ‘Pit Bull’ Jordan Is the greatest substantive mismatch since the Phillies faced The Yankees in the 1950 World Series (4-0 Yankees).
The Republicans will be able to vote their squeaky majority on the Oversight Committee, as they plunge into Benghazi-type investigations, but razor-shape Raskin will expose their blustering and bull shit in any televised hearings. I am prepared to watch this 2023 Animal House, perhaps with Jim Jordan as John Belushi. But this will not be slapstick humor.
Not Belushi - Belushi was smart.
Very smart and, a brilliant comedian.
Gym Jordan is an obnoxious POS that any body who had any sense would ignore and stuff a sock in his mouth. The ignorant voters in Ohio continue
to elect him even though he did not protect his wrestling team from a pervert Quack.
It will be interesting to see how long Gym Jordan hangs around after Jack is finished with him.
let's hope!! he is the bottom feeder in the scum pool.
Yes Raskin is perfect for the ranking member of the oversight committee. He will be wading through some serious BS
He's another one with extraordinary moral fibre. He lost his son because of the unbearable state of the country under Trump (COVID, Floyd, Trump's lies) - and managed to endure, through the most terrible grief, because of his determination that the democracy should be saved. There are some wonderful people on the Select Committee, and elsewhere among the Democrats. The truth must prevail.
Yes, I too, feel immense gratitude to every member of the committee. In fact also to the Democrats and Nancy Pelosi and her years as Speaker of the House. Watching Pelosi and Kamela Harris standing and honoring Volodymyr Zelensky, I was overwhelmed with emotion.
ditto
Yes, and Raskin is yet another Professor by trade.
His brilliance is matched by his decency and integrity.
“On a time scale of Nixon.” Lordy, I remember, and I was stupid enough to think that crooked republicans had learned their lesson. Silly me
Jeri I taught Watergate for years and had the then=CIA Director Richard Helms factually check my extensive write up for my students, few who had been born in 1972.
My write up included: “Not whether, but when, this will happen again.’ Indeed, though I was on the Nixon White Hour Enemies List, what Trump and his slug foots have done is far, far worse. Sadly I believe that he is most likely to be criminally convicted in his Fulton County calumny.
You weren’t stupid but undoubtedly young (I know I was naive) and more trusting of the institutions and systems in place at the time. I had 2 older brothers who were a lot more skeptical!
I'd love to see him run for President when the timing is right. He is brilliant, determined, an eloquent communicator, unflappable, able to concentrate even in the face of personal disaster, and handles others with a sense of humor and a twinkle in his eye.
This isn’t politics. It’s a glimpse into the workings of a crime family.
I trust Jamie Raskin and I trust Adam Schiff
How distressing to witness malicious intent, vengeful efforts to hamstring government by the GOP. What a contrast to the continued achievements of Biden and his administration. A report just noted that the average American life expectancy just dropped again by a few months. While Biden demonstrates how much good government can do, the GOP is hell bent on subterfuge and even destruction of government. Instead, government could finally enact universal Healthcare to raise life expectancy. We could improve infrastructure, reform and regulate industry to better lives. Such is still far off. Sad.
The GOP has not been a normal party let alone a governing party for a long time. There is neither evidence nor hope the GOP cares about our country.
True enough. Yet they will hold the House majority for the next two years. I can't understand why voters choose the "burn it all down" option. Bite the nose off to spite the face.
Nice typo Carmen. I can only imagine what the "Hose" majority might be...
The House R majority may get even smaller as that NY House Rep-elect, Santos ( if that is his name ) may never reach his seat. NY state AG is investigating.
Bryan I was gobsmacked by the story of congressman-elect Santos in Long Island’s Nassau County. He was defeated in 2020 and won in 2022. Now it turns out that his resume was a full of holes as Swiss cheese. His family Jewish link to the Holocaust was absolutely false. His employment with Citicorp and Goldman Sachs didn’t happen. The magical company from which he purportedly received a $750,000 annual salary didn’t seem to exist,,,and on and on.
How the Democrats and the press didn’t pick this up in opposition research over two campaigns leaves me flabbergasted.
Whatever the NY Attorney General chooses to do, there is no way that a Republican-dominated House committee will block the seating on Santos, whose vote is essential to their razor-thin majority.
Understand Keith as I have followed Substack's Jay Kuo's detailed analyses on Santos ( if that is his name ). The investigation is very hot, Santos is attempting to re-register his corp alter ego in NY. Campaign financing violations, multiple violations are being ivestigated. A phony resume is the least of his problems right now. You cannot sit in the House if you are sitting in jail. I am not clear on the NY Governor's power to appoint a repalcement if Santos' maquerade(s) blows him up.
NYT follow up this morning: Santos worked in call center @$13/hour while mother was cleaning houses. Various law suits for skipping on rent and/or debt. Talk of fancy houses, while sharing minimal apartments. His claim to have graduated from NYU seems specious. Seems to have been married and divorced. Irving with male companion, but no one seems certain as to where. Possibly fashionable Huntington, not in his congressional district.
Ooooh-so good to hear! How Santos was able to get this far defies imagining. I admit legal ignorance, but I truly hope his distortions and outright lies prevent him from serving in public office.
No worries on legal matters Jen but, we need a forensic acccountant to see if third parties directly funded Santos' multiple scams.
Fixed. Old eyes, and I've always been very bad using a phone keyboard.
Too bad. I think I may continue to think of the GOP as the Hose majority.
Me too, a good one, thanks Carmen.
Propaganda
The GOP cares about power - to preserve their dominance over a rapidly changing, more diverse population. They see the world as a zero sum game. They don't want to share the pie. If only they could be disabused of this notion.
If only they could see that the success of an immigrant who works hard and pays taxes actually adds to the pie! If only they could see that truly equal education for ALL makes for a more prosperous society in which even they gain.
Instead, the GOP became the GQP which espouses fear, bigotry, hate and lies. And murder by WMDs in the hands of kids.
... When it comes to global warming, the GOP is in denial. When it comes to mass immigration, the DEms are in denial.
By 1980, black meat packers had long since organized themselves into predominated in the trade, and earning good middle class wages. But immigration surged in the '80s, and by that decade's end, immigrants predominated in meat packing, earning barely more than minimum wage, and toiling under atrocious conditions. That's the way the big companies wanted it. Cheap labor.
Wages stagnated in the trades for 40 years, or even dropped. See: Back of the Hiring Line: A 200-Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias, and Depression of Black Wealth ($13 on amazon). The book is solid, covering the academic economic history, black periodicals, statements from black leaders, and gov't commissions on immigration reform (296 footnotes). The book shows that as immigration has kept surging these past 40 years, white workers and longer term immigrant workers have suffered the same fate as black workers.
In the last of the latter, 1996, Barbara Jordan, the black texas democrat who made her name on the House Watergate Committee, recommended cutting immigration roughly in half (it reached a million annually in 1991) and strict enforcement of immigration laws (deporting people here illegally). Alas, she died soon after she finished her work. Had her recommendations been followed, we probably never would have had trump, whose signature issue was immigration.
Arlie Hochschild, who wrote Strangers in Their Own Land, her investigation of Republican views in Louisiana, where she spent five years commuting there from Berkeley, to get to know these people, wrote that they see immigrants and blacks (preferential treatment) as cutting into the line to the American dream. It's partially true, in that mass immigration creates an oversupply of cheap labor that takes jobs from American workers and suppresses the wages.
After passage of New Deal legislation, the Republicans immediately began to work to get rid of those laws like Social Security. Think how they currently want to sunset Social Security. Their dominating thought are: 1) Every man for himself. 2) What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine also. Totally morally bankrupt, most of them.
I would like to know more about why Cheney and Kinzinger became Republicans The Republican Party as of Reagan was a national virus
Cheney was born into it. I don't know anything about Kinzinger.
Ain’t that the truth.. I can attest that has been the case for all of my long, adult life.
The conversations encouraging Ms. Hutchinson to lie are straight out of a "Godfather" film - - or any real life mob boss, bully, or dictator. I'm looking forward to the rest of your analysis of the J6 report. Thank you for keeping us informed, Heather.
The Godfather film is right out of real life.
There was a hot show Treasury Secretary under Trump, named Steve Mnuchin, former Goldman Sachs big wig. He should be held directly accountable for the IRS not auditing Trump returns, and also for not releasing the tax returns to Neal when asked as the law clearly states Congress had a right to them if requested. So, hold the big guy at the top accountable for a change. Do not even think about chiding the lower level employees at the IRS who were clearly cowed by Trump. Dealing with the likes of Trump was above their pay grade and should have been kicked upstairs to those who could deal with him.
You are absolutely correct. Lower level IRS employees, as in Revenue Agents, don’t get to select who they audit. It is illegal for them to do that. Their case load MUST be assigned by supervisors. Normally, a return of his size would be audited by a team of no less than 5 people. To assign one person is insane and clearly against IRS procedures. So who ordered it that way? One or two guesses and I would start with Mnuchin and IRS commissioner Rettig, appointed by trump. They happen to be in real estate together, a 50/50 deal in Hawaii. As trump’s name caused loss of business, what do you suppose that did to business receipts? Think that guy in charge of the IRS wanted an audit that would further erode the receipts? I suspect not. And keep in mind, Rettig was a high-priced tax attorney for people just like trump prior to being appointed to the IRS. In other words, his job prior to the IRS was FIGHTING IRS audits in court to get his wealthy clients off the hook!
Tfg’s best skill was finding the wiliest most perfect Fox to put in charge of every hen house in his administration. He never faltered from his goal of deconstruction of the administrative state
I can’t like this comment enough. When you think about tfg’s cabinet, every.single. one of them was a destroyer.
Mnuchin should be behind the eight ball for a multitude of sins.
I notice that Mnuchin's name hasn't come up. They have named all of the IRS commissioners who won't take responsibility.
The numbers I've seen for taxes paid by TFG should have triggered an audit. Going from paying little or no taxes to a rather large amount (2019?) usually catches someone's eye.
S. Passantino, D.C. bar has this P.O.S. as listed in 'Good Standing'! This clown needs to be disbarred, prior to indictment.
I hope that one day we learn the full picture of how Trump, using millions upon millions of dollars donated by his cult, paid the legal fees of so many cronies to buy them off. Did the MAGAs know they were financing high-paid lawyers all based on the biggest lie in American history?
Santos just chump evil in a smaller pond.
No, it's better for sitting on.
Blinded by $$$$$$ or hate
It. Is. Not.
Given that Assistant Coach Gym Jordan and Our Little Margie Traitor Goon don't have enough brains combined to fill a thimble, watching Raskin run intellectual circles around them will be funny. Pass the popcorn.
For those interested, Talking Points memo has PDFs on download of the Committee Final Report and all the witness transcripts. The two for Cassidy Hutchinson are some of the most amazing reading you'll run across. I wrote about her at length over at TAFM tonight. A true American Hero.
The committee report has been written to be extremely readable by "non-lawyers" according to those who have already started reading it. Just looking at the chapter titles, it's obvious someone who knows how to put out quality non-fiction in a fictional thriller format was in charge of the project. As Lawrence said, the best-written government report he's aware of.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/live-blog/january-6-committee-transcripts
Thanks for adding the link, TC!
"I wrote about her at length over at TAFM tonight." Yep!
Glory, waiting to see if Rupert is still on the fence….
Thank you Dr Richardson for guiding us through this mess with facts rather than red herrings. It’s pretty clear that most Republican legislators do not understand the meaning of public service or honesty. I wonder what their tax returns look like. 🧐Jordan and his ilk ruling the Judiciary committee will be constant lies. The GOP is circling the drain, hanging on with threats and empty promises and lack of a conscience and fake poll numbers. Ms. Hutchinson is a shining example to other republicans that it’s possible to clear your brain of the overwhelming swamp that is trump world conservatism. It’s not easy because of tabloid news reporting. When the red herring polls come out, ask yourself “how many of these 1000 respondents are brainwashed trolls?” LFAA is the gift that keeps on giving. I am so grateful for her and you comment writers for getting me through this nightmare.
I have an image of the committee as being a dozen chimps at play in the trees.
The chimps I know at Zoo Knoxville are WAY smarter and more ethical.
“… chimps at play in the trees, shitting in their hands and eating it. “ FIFY
Sorry to be so gross, but when you witness this behaviour at the zoo, and have a chimp maintain eye contact the whole time, it is clearly obvious most Republicans have yet to evolve. (I apologize to all pan troglodytes reading this comment.)
Love me some Jamie Raskin! That’s good news.
Also…Amazing what one young woman’s honest testimony has done and symbolized. We need more like her.
Thanks, as always, HCR, for filling me in on things not mentioned in the MSM.
Isn’t it perjury when, under oath, a person testifies she doesn’t know information she really knows?
If so, doesn’t that mean that attorney Passantino suborned Cassidy Hutchinson to commit perjury in his advising her regarding her testimony before the 1/6 committee? Isn’t his promise “We’ll take care of you…”, clearly witness tampering?
It seems to me that DoJ could bring RICO charges against TFG and many members of his administration’s staff. They fit anybody’s definition of a corrupt organization.
Kudos to Cassidy Hutchinson for having the integrity, and courage, to present the truth to the 1/6 committee.
If there’s any doubt our two party system needs a recharge, reread today’s letter. Democrats are passing legislation and governing, with good news somewhat overshadowed by a number of repubs stuck on obstruction. Is it a continuation of TFG’s years, as an “unofficial” mob boss, threatening and violating any ethics rules of government? The fear Cassidy Hutchinson expressed, working in “Trump world” with attorney Stefan Passantino and Mark Meadows, who advised her on the art of lying, is evidence that the Whitehouse corruption needs to be fully investigated and prosecuted. TFG’s years in entertainment continued after he was elected. Corruption out in the open and still support from his party. But the good news: the reports and recommendations from the January 6 Committee will be part of the DOJ’s investigations and prosecution. Gratitude to the members of that bipartisan committee for their dedication to Truth, Justice, Democracy, and our Constitution. Onward.
Hope RNC is on somebody’s agenda.
Cancer = the GOP
How can this GOP ever be trusted again? Never.
Huzzah for Heather! Thank you for your column today! Huzzah for Jamie Raskin! Thank you for being on the House Oversight Committee! Huzzah for Cassidy Hutchinson! Thank you for your honesty and courage!
I have the shorter version of the findings of the January 6 Committee and lots of reading to do.
🐼❤️
MAGA Neighbors have been sounding a bit less rabid. Is the romance with Trump starting to cool or are they just freezing their hineys off?
Good question. They fed off his power and willingness to use it for the hate that they embrace. I suspect even they know his power is waning fast and his chances of re-election are nil.
I'm waiting to be sure that he knows it, just about the moment the prison gate slams behind him.
You are too kind David. We should be thinking drop gate here.
What sort of drop gate, Pat? You mean like on a gallows? He might not last too long behind bars in any case, and I would be happy if he had some time to ponder what a mess he has made of things.
Sorry David I am a primitive relic. The jerk at the end of the rope should also convince his wolf pack to find easier prey. I hate to throw good money away keeping him in a cage. I am a true conservative. He has left many lives hanging by a thread. He made his own rope. Dropping or dragging, either way poetic justice.
Yeah, that makes sense, Pat. Guess this means I'll have to revisit my abhorrence of the death penalty.
Or, we could let nature take its course and turn him loose in the Montana outback somewhere in the dead of winter.
Let him run for it.
His COVID management caused how many deaths, Mr. Cole?
Probably the latter, cults don’t deprogram themselves. I imagine most have those eyes and ears covered and the brain busy with Q Schitt. I know some well…