POLITICO Playbook: Jan. 6 panel may have found its 'smoking gun'

It’s hard to imagine how Tuesday’s surprise hearing of the House Jan. 6 committee could’ve been more damning for President DONALD TRUMP.

With vivid stories told in measured tones, CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, a former special assistant to the president and aide to chief of staff MARK MEADOWS, “stitched together every element of the panel’s case against Donald Trump,” our Kyle Cheney and Nicholas Wu write. “The Capitol riot committee has painted the former president’s potential criminal culpability for his effort to overturn the election in stark hues: investigators have portrayed Trump fuming atop an increasingly conspiracy-addled West Wing and working to corrupt the peaceful transfer of power at any cost.”

Among the stunning revelations in Hutchinson’s testimony: 

— Trump knew that some supporters on Jan. 6 were armed, and didn’t care. In Hutchinson’s recounting, Trump wanted the rally on the Ellipse to be packed for his speech. Warned by the Secret Service that some Trump supporters were choosing to watch from a distance because they didn’t want to go through metal detectors and have their weapons (including AR-15s and handguns) confiscated, the president was allegedly unmoved.

“I don’t fucking care that they have weapons; they’re not here to hurt me,” Trump said, according to Hutchinson. “Take the fucking [magnetometers] away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here, let the people in and take the mags away.”

If true, that means that Trump told the crowd to march to the Capitol to “fight like hell” knowing that some were armed.

— Trump demanded his team take him to the Capitol. We knew Trump wanted to go to the Capitol on Jan. 6; he said so in his speech. But this was the first time that it was clear it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision; it was an idea that some people in Trump World (notably, RUDY GIULIANI) knew about and advocated, and which White House Counsel PAT CIPOLLONE believed had concerning legal ramifications.

Hutchinson recounted that Cipollone told her to ensure that the motorcade would not go to the Capitol: They’d get “charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen.”

“Pat was concerned it would look like we were obstructing justice or obstructing the electoral college count,” she said. “And he was also worried that it would look like we were inciting a riot or encouraging a riot to erupt on the Capitol."

— When the motorcade refused to go to the Capitol, Trump angrily grabbed the steering wheel and allegedly assaulted a Secret Service agent. Hutchinson recounted a secondhand story from TONY ORNATO, the White House deputy chief of staff at the time, about Trump’s reaction when he realized that, for security reasons, the Secret Service was not taking him to the Capitol, as he wanted, after his speech on the Ellipse.

“I’m the fucking president. Take me up to the Capitol now,” Trump said, per Hutchinson.The president then reached up to grab at the steering wheel before the head of his detail, ROBERT ENGEL, “grabbed his arm and said, ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel.’” She says Ornato told her Trump then used his other hand to “lunge” at Engle’s clavicle.

Noteworthy pushback on this one: Per WaPo’s Carol Leonnig, “Secret Service agents dispute that Donald Trump assaulted any agent or tried to grab the steering wheel on Jan 6. They agree Trump was furious about not being able to go to [the] Capitol with his supporters. They offer to testify under oath.” And, per CNN’s Gabby Orr, Ornato and Engel “are prepared to testify that neither incident occurred.”

— Trump agreed with rioters that VP MIKE PENCE “deserved” to be hanged.As Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, some chanting “hang Mike Pence,” Cipollone implored Meadows that the White House needed to “do something more” to stop the mayhem. “You heard him, Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it,” Meadows said, per Hutchinson. “He doesn’t think they’re doing anything wrong.”

— Meadows and Giuliani were interested in pardons from Trump for their actions related to Jan. 6 and attempts to overturn the election.

TRUMP WORLD REACTS — Though the former president took to Truth Social to deny the most damning testimony and attack Hutchinson — “bad handwriting, that of a Whacko?” he wrote after the committee exhibited a handwritten note of hers from Jan. 6 — much of Trump world has been quiet, and most Republicans aren’t pushing back on the core of the testimony, even as some suggest that her most explosive allegations are “hearsay.”

NYT’s Michael Bender and Maggie Haberman: “Current and former aides to Mr. Trump sent one another messages as the hearing took place, describing a series of disclosures that they conceded were potentially quite damaging, mostly politically but also, potentially, legally.”

Our own Kyle Cheney writes in: “Trump allies will seek out any potentially disputable aspect of her testimony and use it to discredit her entirely. … The select committee has also staked a lot on Hutchinson’s credibility holding up — and there was lots of confidence from the panel after Tuesday’s hearing that she had delivered effectively.”

Former White House chief of staff MICK MULVANEY: “This is explosive stuff. … I know her. I don’t think she is lying.”

WHAT COMES NEXT?

— Legally: “In Hutchinson’s testimony, experts see ‘nuggets’ for Justice probe,”by WaPo’s Devlin Barrett … NYT’s Peter Baker: “Did Trump commit a crime? ‘This is the smoking gun,’ SOL WISENBERG, a former deputy to KEN STARR, tells me about today's hearing. ‘There isn’t any question this establishes a prima facie case for his criminal culpability on seditious conspiracy charges.’”

— For the committee: “Ginni Thomas lawyer has ‘serious concerns’ about Jan. 6 committee fairness,” by Betsy Woodruff Swan and Nicholas Wu … “Eastman drops bid to block phone records from Jan. 6 committee,” by Kyle Cheney

— Politically: “The startling revelations from Hutchinson's testimony about Trump's erratic behavior and state of mind on January 6 could make it easier for Republican presidential hopefuls to challenge the former President in a primary should he run, [a] Trump ally added,” write CNN’s Gabby Orr and Pamela Brown. “‘This is basically a campaign commercial for (Florida Gov.) RON DESANTIS 2024,’ said the Trump ally.”