The 26-year-old in charge of Trump's "political obituary": How did Cassidy Hutchinson become an overnight star?

The White House chief of staff, who graduated from college just a few years ago, yesterday provided a panel investigating Donald Trump's involvement in the Capitol Hill attack - and worldwide - with unprecedented evidence of the former president's insane conduct - and may have paved the way for a criminal indictment against him.

Tali Goldstein

29/06/2022

Wednesday, 29 June 2022, 12:59 Updated: 13:17

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A year and a half after the deadly attack on Capitol Hill, an ongoing investigation and six hearings full of unprecedented evidence - yesterday (Tuesday) came the moment everyone will remember: the testimony of former President Donald Trump's assistant chief 26-year-old Cassidy Hutchinson.

Cassidy's appearance before the panel, her professional conduct and the manner in which she eloquently and credibly described the insane and dangerous behavior of the President of the United States was defined this morning by commentators as evidence that could lead to criminal charges against Trump for conspiracy to disrupt an official process or US fraud.

Journalist and writer Bob Woodward even said yesterday's hearing was "Trump's political obituary."

The testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson before the panel (Photo: Reuters)

For two hours, Chinson testified before the panel in a testimony broadcast live on national television, and despite the stressful status that even far more senior and experienced characters tried to evade, she maintained an impressive composure - especially given that she was a young girl graduating from college a few years ago.

And during one afternoon, she turned from a former junior White House staffer into a star on the one hand and a target for harsh criticism and, presumably, threats.

Chinson proved by testimony how close she was to the main characters who ruled the White House at the time, and that Medus himself affectionately referred to her as "Kess."

Her voice was not broken when she repeated shocking remarks by Trump and Medus - and she even received a warm hug after the hearing from the committee's deputy chair, Liz Cheney.

In the video: Testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House staffer on the Commission of Inquiry into the Capitol Breaking (Reuters)

Chinson's testimony was particularly important because she was on the side of White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (who refused to appear before the panel), throughout the period leading up to and during the attack on Capitol Hill.

Her testimony helped fill key gaps regarding Trump's direct involvement that day and even put Medoz and other Trump associates at the center of events critical to the House of Commons' inquiry and the Justice Department.

Her testimony also raised new questions about the formation of criminal charges against those who surrounded Trump and collaborated with him on Jan. 6.

"I knew her testimony would be incriminating," tweeted Eliza Para Griffin, a former White House communications officer who was friendly with Chinson.

"But I did not know she would be so convicting. I am grateful to her for her courage and integrity."

Was next to the head of the staff.

Cassidy Hutchinson (Photo: Official Website, White House)

Hutchinson was born in New Jersey and graduated from high school in 2015, when she received an award from the Hopewell Municipality for her outstanding civic contribution to her “extraordinary service” to the council.

She graduated in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in political science from Christopher Newport University in Virginia.

She said she was the first in her family to go to college.

Hutchison interned with minority whip House Housewife Steve Skelis (Republican from Louisiana) and Senator Ted Cross (Republican from Texas) before becoming an intern at the White House in the summer before graduating from college.

When she returned to school in the fall, she received the letter of acceptance informing her that she had been selected to work at the White House.

She said she was so excited that she started crying.

"As a first-generation college student, the fact that I was selected to serve as an intern alongside some of the most intelligent and ambitious students in the country - many of them from prestigious universities - was a tremendous honor and growth experience," she said in a 2018 interview with the University newspaper.

"I have set myself a personal goal to adhere to a path of civic significance," she added.

That excitement peaked yesterday when Hutchinson said sadly about the events of Jan. 6: "We've seen the Capitol building go into disrepair due to a lie" - and in fact summed up in one sentence four years of arguably the most damaging presidency of the world's most powerful country.

"Every senior White House official knew her."

Cassidy Hutchinson testifies before panel (Photo: Reuters)

Trump responded immediately after the hearing and said he did not know her at all and continued with various slanders.

However, according to former White House deputy spokeswoman Sarah Matthews, "Anyone who tries to downplay the role played by Cassidy Hutchinson or her approach to the West Wing and the Oval Office - or does not understand how the White House worked under Trump or tries to discredit her because he fears how much Her testimony was convicting. "

A former White House aide tweeted in response: "Every senior White House official knew her. Even if Trump claims he did not know her by name, he probably knew who she was. She flew in Air Force 1 with Mark Meadows on every ride and ride."

The aide added that even if her testimony last night was insane, "she was 100% credible."

Brendan Buck, a former assistant to Paul Ryan, a former White House spokesman (Republican from Wisconsin), said Chinson "was always by Medus' side ... at every meeting she was there, he insisted on it."

He said she was always quiet,

Hutchinson even provided proof of her credibility and willingness to cooperate with the panel even before the testimony, when she replaced her lawyer, Stephen Pasatino, the White House ethics lawyer at the beginning of Trump's tenure, with a new lawyer, Judy Hunt, who is close to J. F. Sessions, a former Republican senator from Alabama who served as Trump's first attorney general and resigned in November 2018 at the request of the former president.

"My Little Contribution"

The importance of the Chinson testimony was further reaffirmed by Noram Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who served as the Democrats' attorney in the House of Representatives in Trump's impeachment trial.

"Cassidy Hutchinson may be the next John Dean," he told the Washington Post.

Dean was a presidential lawyer who accused President Richard Nixon of being directly involved in the Watergate affair during the investigation of the Senate and federal prosecutors.

"My small contribution to preserving American prosperity and excellence is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life," she said in an interview with her 2018 university newspaper.

After yesterday, it seems that her contribution is no longer so small.

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