All About Cassidy Hutchinson, the Former White House Aide Who Testified Against Trump in Jan. 6 Hearing

Hutchinson, now 26, served as a top aide to Donald Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and would later blow the whistle on what she witnessed in the administration

Some of the most riveting testimony during the House committee hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot came via Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified in a live hearing on June 28, 2022, about shocking behavior she witnessed as an aide in President Donald Trump's White House.

Hutchinson, 25 years old at the time, was a surprise guest whose pre-recorded depositions had been previewed during earlier hearings. Her live testimony (announced just 24 hours prior) offered a slew of bombshells, including allegations that the former president physically assaulted a Secret Service officer in an effort to get to the Capitol himself on Jan. 6, and that Trump was known to throw plates of food at the walls in fits of rage.

Here's more about Hutchinson and how her life changed after the testimony.

Related: Cassidy Hutchinson's Full Bombshell Testimony Released: 'They Will Ruin My Life, Mom'

She Worked for a Number of High-Ranking Republicans Early On in Her Career

Originally from Pennington, New Jersey, Hutchinson majored in political science at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia.

Her first Capitol internship was for then-House Majority Whip Steve Scalise in the summer of 2017 (it was during her internship that Scalise was shot and nearly killed while practicing for a charity GOP baseball game.)

Later that summer, Hutchinson took another internship, this time in the office of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Before her senior year of college, Hutchinson joined the Trump administration as an intern in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. After she graduated, she accepted a full-time job there, serving as a liaison between the White House and Congress.

She Rose Through the Ranks of the Trump Administration at a Young Age

Hutchinson was a loyal staffer in the Trump administration, quickly rising the ranks until, at age 23, she was handpicked by incoming White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to serve as his right hand.

"I didn't agree with everything the administration was doing, but I saw it as an opportunity to serve my country and to serve the president," Hutchinson told PEOPLE in a September 2023 interview.

As a top aide to Meadows — who has since been indicted in Georgia for his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the election in Trump's favor — she was in close proximity to Trump and his most loyal allies.

Related: First Look at Cassidy Hutchinson's Memoir: Trump Whistleblower Details Life After Jan. 6 Testimony (Exclusive)

She Offered Startling Revelations During Live Testimony Delivered Before the Jan. 6 Committee

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot originally aired video footage of an early deposition from Hutchinson, in which she testified that several Republican members of Congress sought a blanket pardon for their involvement in the former president's attempts to overturn his defeat.

In the pre-recorded testimony, Hutchinson alleged that Reps. Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Louie Gohmert and Scott Perry had contacted the White House to inquire about securing pardons. Perry, she alleged, wanted environmental lawyer Jeffrey Clark — a now-indicted ally of Trump — to take over the U.S. Justice Department in an effort to help overturn the election in Trump's favor.

Hutchinson also testified to the committee that she saw Meadows burn documents in his office after meeting with Perry.

Related: Jeffrey Clark Was Almost Our Attorney General — Now He’s Fulton County Inmate No. P01135824

But it was her live testimony that would offer the most startling bombshells about the Trump administration.

In it, Hutchinson claimed that she hadn't told the entire truth in earlier depositions, and had falsely testified on the advice of a Trump-affiliated lawyer.

She said she sought new counsel with no strings attached and had a second chance to testify on her own terms, telling the House select committee that Trump knew there were armed supporters in Washington on Jan. 6 and that he urged them on anyway, even physically assaulting a Secret Service agent when his request to meet his supporters at the Capitol was denied.

Related: Cassidy Hutchinson Claims Rudy Giuliani Groped Her on Jan. 6: 'Like a Wolf Closing In on Its Prey'

In her live testimony, Hutchinson further alleged that both her own former boss, Meadows, and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani sought presidential pardons following the events of Jan. 6, and that the former president had been warned about using incendiary rhetoric prior to his speech urging supporters to "march" to the Capitol.

"I knew from the moment that I decided that I wanted and needed to come forward with the information that I had, that it would take a toll on my career," she told PEOPLE, reflecting on her testimony. "But it was a small price to pay in exchange for living the rest of my life in this aura of dishonesty and inauthenticity that I didn't want to be a part of any longer."

Related: Assaulting Secret Service, Throwing Ketchup on Walls: The Biggest Bombshells from Tuesday's Jan. 6 Hearing

She Faced Security Threats Following the Testimony

Following her live testimony, Hutchinson received threats and faced attacks from anonymous sources disputing some of her testimony (meanwhile, two anonymous Secret Service agents corroborated it).

Speaking to PEOPLE at the time, former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin said Hutchinson was "doing remarkably well," adding: "I think she went into it with open eyes."

And while Hutchinson remained largely out of the limelight, she reentered the public sphere in September 2023 with the debut of a memoir Enough.

"I want people to know that I didn't just arrive at that moment of testifying," Hutchinson told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview ahead of the book's Sept. 26 publication. "It was hard in a lot of ways to get to that place. And it was hard afterward too."

Related: Cassidy Hutchinson Refuses to Respond to Donald Trump’s Insults: ‘Being Ignored Drives Him Mad’ (Exclusive)

Though Hutchinson left D.C. for a while in the wake of her testimony, she is now back in the city, where she lives with a cockapoo named George.

"It doesn't feel like the same city that I first arrived at and then eventually moved to, I think because of the perspective that I have now on how fragile our democracy actually is," she told PEOPLE. "I still have faith in Washington, and I still want to be here, but it is difficult being here, especially after everything that transpired."

While she is not currently working on the Hill, she still considers herself a Republican and hasn’t ruled out reentering politics in the future.

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