Under increasing pressure by inquiries about the White House’s involvement in a cover-up of the Watergate break-in, Richard Nixon ordered White House attorney John Dean to compose a report on the cover-up. Dean knew that because he was involved in the cover-up, he would have to implicate himself, and he felt that he was being set-up by the White House to be the scapegoat. When he refused to complete the report he was fired by Nixon, who did everything he could to stop Dean’s subsequent agreement to cooperate with congressional investigators. Dean’s public testimony was explosive, although it alone wouldn’t bring Nixon down; that would come when the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Nixon to release the Oval Office tapes, which would corroborate much of Dean’s testimony.
So the public hearings of the January 6 Committee have been going on for a few weeks, with testimony relegated mostly in regard to the run-up to the insurrection, concerning the efforts of Donald Trump and his stooges to ratchet-up election fraud conspiracies, and calling upon Trump supporters to make their “voices” heard. But there was no “John Dean” moment, where we actually heard anything new or more damning from someone who was actually there, until yesterday, when a former aide to Trump chief-of-staff Mark Meadows, Cassidy Hutchinson, testified before the committee. Hutchinson had already given testimony in closed session, and what she had to say during the public hearings was front page news across the country.
Not that there was a lot of new information, but it was “shocking” to actually hear about Trump wanting to join the mob that he was warned was armed, or that Beer Hall Putsch Trump didn’t think they were doing anything “wrong,” or that this was an opportunity to milk his cult of personality for all it was worth. But what was more disturbing was the claim that he actually tried to grab the steering wheel of the presidential SUV when his security detail refused to take him to the Capitol building. This was just insane behavior, although to be “fair” this was typical Trump who had no sense of reality or a sense of dignity that the presidency demanded. Hutchinson further underlined this point by testifying that a valet had confirmed that Trump threw a plate of food against the wall when told that William Barr had found no evidence election fraud.
There were other things, of course: Trump angrily having metal detectors for weapons removed because they would “slow down” rioters on their way to the Capitol building, a White House in chaos, “factions” competing with each other for either adding fuel to the fire or trying to put it out, Trump for hours refusing to believe that the rioters were doing anything “wrong” once they were inside the Capitol building. Trump’s security is denying that he tried to physically force them to take him to join the rioters—or at least they claim that he didn’t forcibly try to take the wheel, despite Hutchinson testifying that the driver of the presidential SUV told her personally that Trump did in fact attempt to do this.
Trump of course is responding to this in usual way: Hutchinson is a “total phony” and a “whacko.” These are terms used by a person divorced from reality and is incapable of self-reflection, or to just shut-up. Even Fox News Bret Baier noted that it is a crime to lie under oath, and Trump has never permitted himself to speak under oath as Hutchinson did. According to the Washington Post count, Trump told or tweeted more than 30,000 falsehoods during his presidency. The problem with this man is that he speaks from the “gut,” his responses to situations entirely based on personal prejudices and not on facts or what other people’s views are.
Trump has lived in a bubble world his entire life where he was in “control” and never felt the need to deal with people in an honest manner. The only people who “impressed” him were people who were actually better at something than he was—such as Tiger Woods at golf. Otherwise, this narcissist respects no one; he will give them the time of day only if they do as he commands without question, even if it is illegal or unethical. Who should we believe? People who are willing to testify under oath in public, or someone who lives in an antimatter universe for whom the truth means his own destruction?
It appears that Republican strategists and activists are taking Hutchinson’s testimony somewhat seriously, because people are hearing about some things that further question Trump’s mental state, particularly under pressure. I mean, this man does not act with the dignity one would expect from someone occupying the highest office in the land. We could easily see him putting on a clown suit and joining that mob inside the Capitol building; he is no different from any of those people. If you don’t feel comfortable voting for this guy for president…
…why are you voting for Trump—or Ron DeSantis for that matter, who is trying to carve a fascist state in Florida where only his supporters have a right to “freedom of speech”? Interestingly, Trump’s supporters are claiming that Hutchinson’s testimony is being used by DeSantis’ supporters as ammunition to force Trump to drop out of the 2024 presidential race. DeSantis hasn’t officially announced that he will run in 2024, but there seems little doubt that this fanatic will walk over Trump’s back if he can, calling himself the “natural” successor to Trumpism/fascism.
Thus the testimony of people like Hutchinson can’t just be about the danger of Trump, but of Trumpism in general. If there is any audio of Trump making insane statements to back up Hutchinson’s testimony, that could be the “dagger” as it was for Nixon’s presidency.
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