John,
Yesterday Cassidy Hutchinson, a former senior aide to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified before the January 6th Select Committee.
To say that her testimony was shocking is an understatement. She made it crystal clear that former President Trump engaged in an unprecedented and criminal effort to overthrow the government by force.
He encouraged a supportive mob he knew to be armed with guns to descend on the certification of the election, saying “They’re not here to hurt me…Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here.”
He reportedly attempted to choke a Secret Service agent and grabbed the steering wheel of his presidential limo, when he was told he could not go to the Capitol.
And he approved of chants to hang Vice President Mike Pence.
Donald Trump’s crimes now clearly seem to include an attempt to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding and criminal sedition, among others. Trump is an existential threat to our democracy, and the FBI and Justice Department investigate the full extent of Trump’s wrongdoing and charge him if the evidence supports it.
We filed a complaint calling for Trump to be investigated for criminal sedition days after the insurrection, have tracked Trump’s dozens of likely crimes—including obstruction of an official proceeding and attempting to defraud the United States, which he and his staff were warned about ahead of the insurrection, and have uncovered significant new details about law enforcements’ preparation and response to the insurrection via Freedom of Information Act requests.
We knew that Trump was responsible for inciting the insurrection and we’ve been fighting for accountability since that day. But yesterday’s testimony was still shocking, because it showed that Trump was even more aware of the real risk of violence than we knew, and just how far he was willing to go to cling to power. It has only increased our resolve to keep pushing for accountability, no matter how long it takes.
Thank you,
Donald Sherman
Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel, CREW
