Cassidy Hutchinson says Trump said 'hang' as he watched rioters chant 'hang Mike Pence' on Jan. 6
Former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson claims without providing further evidence that former President Donald Trump said the word "hang" as he was watching rioters chant "hang Mike Pence" as the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection unfolded on a TV in the dining room off the Oval Office, according to an excerpt of Hutchinson's new book read out by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.
"I take a few steps back as Mark takes my place in the doorway and strain to listen to both conversations," Hutchinson wrote. "The TV in the Oval dining room is blaring, and the president is yelling. What's he saying? I can't make it out. I hear him say 'hang' repeatedly. Hang? What's that about? Mark hands his phone back to me, the cue for me to return to my desk."
Last year, Hutchinson testified before the House Jan. 6 committee that she overheard then-White House counsel Pat Cipollone and then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows recounting Trump's reaction when told rioters were chanting "Hang Mike Pence!" -- that he responded he "deserves" it.
Trump has denied saying Pence deserved to be hanged, calling Hutchinson a liar. Meadows has not publicly commented.
He previously defended the rioters who chanted for Pence to be hanged.
"Were you worried about him during that siege? Were you worried about his safety?" ABC Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl asked Trump in March.
"No, I thought he was well-protected, and I had heard that he was in good shape. ... No, because, uh, I had heard he was in very good shape. But, but -- no, I think --" Trump responded.
"Because you heard those chants, that was terrible. I mean, you know, those," Karl said, to which Trump replied, "He could have -- well, the people were very angry."
In her new book, "Enough," Hutchinson also reportedly made additional claims about the alleged chaotic nature of the final days of the Trump presidency, including Meadows regularly burning documents in the fireplace of his office.
According to the New York Times, the Guardian and CNN, Hutchinson wrote that Meadows burned so many documents in his office that his wife complained about the dry-cleaning cost of his suits to get rid of "bonfire" smell.
Meadows' spokesperson told CNN that the account has been mischaracterized, claiming Meadows often used old newspaper to start his office fireplace and that it had "nothing to do with documents."
During her testimony before the House Jan. 6 committee last year, Hutchinson similarly testified that then-White House chief of staff Meadows burned papers in his office after meeting with Rep. Scott Perry, who was the chair of the House Freedom Caucus.
Appearing on "The Rachel Maddow Show" Monday night, Hutchinson described alleged mishandling of classified documents during the final days of the Trump administration as "reckless and careless."
"It speaks also just to how reckless and careless much of the administration was not taking classified document protocol seriously a lot of the time," Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson appeared on ABC's "The View" on Tuesday but did not address these claims.
Hutchinson also alleges in her book that Rudy Giuliani groped her at Trump's Jan. 6 rally tent, which Giuliani denied, according to multiple reports.
Despite what she saw in the final days of the Trump administration and leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection, Hutchinson wrote that she wanted to move to Mar-a-Lago to continue to work for Trump after his term ended, USA Today reported, but that Meadows told her Trump suspected her of leaking to the press the names of people joining him in Florida.
"My frustration turned to rage. 'Mark, you can go to hell if you think that,'" Hutchinson wrote, according to USA Today. "That night I went home and unpacked, trying to let the news sink in that I wasn't moving to Florida."
Cassidy Hutchinson says Trump said 'hang' as he watched rioters chant 'hang Mike Pence' on Jan. 6 originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
