Hutchinson: Trump Thought Pence 'Deserved' to Be Hanged

Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified at Tuesday's surprise Jan. 6 committee hearing that she was "disgusted" by then-President Trump's reaction to the attack on the Capitol—especially his treatment of then-Vice President Pence. Hutchinson, a former aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, was present when White House counsel Pat Cipollone told Meadows rioters were calling for Pence to be hanged. Hutchinson said Meadows told Cipollone in response, "You heard him [Trump], Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn't think they are doing anything wrong," per the Guardian.

Hutchinson said she remembered seeing Trump's 2:24pm tweet on Jan. 6—after rioters had already invaded the Capitol—which read in part, "Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution." She testified that as a White House staffer, she was "frustrated" and "disappointed" by the tweet. "As an American, I was disgusted. It was unpatriotic," she said, per WFAA. "It was un-American. We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie." (More Jan. 6 hearings stories.)