Mark Meadows: 5 takeaways from his aide’s testimony about the Jan. 6 insurrection

North Carolina’s Mark Meadows is a key player in the events surrounding Jan. 6, 2021.

He served as former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, was with the president on that day and in the days leading up to and after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

He’s been sought after by the Jan. 6 committee for information about his and the president’s actions regarding rioters attempts to overturn the certification of President Joe Biden’s election. But Meadows and the committee are caught up in litigation to protect him from doing so.

In Meadows’ absence, the committee turned to its next best option in gathering that information. On Tuesday, the panel held a surprise public hearing and brought in Meadows’ top aide: 25-year-old Cassidy Hutchinson, who was with both men in the days leading up to and during the insurrection.

Here are five key takeaways from her testimony about Meadows:

1. He knew violence was coming

Hutchinson said she walked attorney Rudy Giuliani to his car on the evening of Jan. 2, following a meeting with Meadows at the White House. Giuliani looked at her and asked, “Cass, are you excited for the sixth? It’s going to be a great day.”

She asked him what was happening on Jan. 6.

“He responded something to the effect of, ‘We’re going to the Capitol. It’s going to be great. The president is going to be there. He’s going to look powerful. He’s going to meet with the members. He’s going to meet with the senators. Talk to the chief about it... He knows about it.”

Hutchinson went to Meadows’ office where he was sitting on his couch, scrolling through his cellphone. She asked about what Giuliani had just told her. Meadows didn’t look up from his phone but said, “There’s a lot going on, Cass, but I don’t know, things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6.”

Hutchinson said she had previously heard plans about going to the Capitol, but this was the first time she felt concerned both with what could happen and about the planning aspect.

Hutchinson said there had been previous intelligence reports that Jan. 6 could have dangerous repercussions, including potential violence if the White House tried to fight the election results.

The committee had intelligence reports that had been provided to Meadows. They explained that people were planning to invade federal buildings and the Capitol. A Capitol Police bulletin showed that they believed Congress would be the target of protesters on Jan. 6.

When Trump supporters arrived at the president’s speech on Jan. 6, security confiscated brass knuckles, body armor, knives, pepper spray, tasers, gas masks, batons, spears and blunt weapons. On the Ellipse, police saw people with AR-15s and Glock-style pistols.

Those were just the people who attempted to get through the metal detectors to go into the area marked for the speech.

2. Meadows let Trump believe he could go to the Capitol

Hutchinson returned to the West Wing after Trump’s rally at the Ellipse. There she learned about an altercation in Trump’s SUV that began from confusion over information Meadows had given Trump.

Hutchinson told the committee that Tony Ornato, who provided oversight to the Secret Service under the Trump administration, told her Trump got into “The Beast” — the presidential state car — and was under the impression from Meadows that he could still go to the Capitol.

Hutchinson had personally heard Meadows make this statement to Trump prior to his speech and it was reiterated to Trump as Meadows and Trump separated to get into their two vehicles after the speech.

Then Secret Service Agent Bobby Engel told Trump he couldn’t visit the Capitol. Chaos ensued, according to Hutchinson.

“The president had a very strong, very angry response to that,” she said. “Tony described him as being irate. The president said something to the effect of ‘I’m the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now.’”

When Engel stood his ground, Hutchinson was told, Trump reached forward to grab the steering wheel and Engel had to grab Trump’s arm. Trump then reached with his free hand to lunge toward Engel, Hutchinson said, adding that as the story was retold to her by Ornato, Ornato motioned toward his clavicle.

Engel was with Ornato as the story was being told and didn’t correct or disagree with any of it, Hutchinson said.

Trump took to social media Tuesday afternoon to say the story is false.

3. ‘Hang Mike Pence’

Meadows wanted to speak with Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, as rioters were breaking into the Capitol.

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and Meadows had gone to the Oval Office to talk with the president about the riot when Jordan called Meadows’ phone.

Hutchinson, who was monitoring Meadows’ phone for Jordan’s call, walked to the Oval Office dining room to grab Meadows. As she peeked her head in, she heard Trump, Cipollone and Meadows talking about the rioters’ calls to “hang Mike Pence.”

She walked back to her desk and a few minutes later Cipollone and Meadows came walking back down the hall. She heard them still discussing the chants.

“I remember Pat saying, ‘Mark, we need to do something more. They’re literally calling for the vice president to be effing hung,’” Hutchinson said. “And Mark responded, ‘You heard him, Pat, he thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn’t think they’re doing anything wrong.’”

4. Meadows had a preoccupation with his cellphone.

Throughout the hearing, Hutchinson discussed trying to get her boss’s attention while he scrolled through his cellphone.

Meadows sat on the couch in his office looking at his phone when Hutchinson and Ornato walked in to tell him about the weapons seen at the Ellipse and the Capitol.

He didn’t look up.

Hutchinson looked at him and said, “Mark, did you hear what he said?”

Meadows asked, “All right, anything else?”

Later, when Trump made his speech on Jan. 6, Hutchinson learned that Capitol Police was having problems keeping people at bay outside the Capitol. She went over to a secure vehicle where Meadows sat on a cellphone call.

Hutchinson said that as she approached, Meadows immediately shut the vehicle’s door.

“I don’t know who he was speaking with,” Hutchinson said. “That wasn’t something he regularly did, especially when I went over to give him information. So I was a bit taken aback but didn’t think much of it, thinking I would be able to have the conversation with him a few moments later.”

It took at least 20 minutes for Meadows to come out of the vehicle and at that point, a backlog of information had come in. She tried multiple times to get the information to Meadows but he kept shutting the door.

When he learned about the violence at the Capitol “he almost had a lack of reaction,” Hutchinson testified.

Then, back at the White House, as rioters entered the Capitol, Hutchinson walked into Meadows’ office.

Meadows was again sitting on his couch, scrolling through his cellphone.

Hutchinson asked Meadows if he was watching television and told him the rioters were getting very close to the Capitol. She asked if he had spoken to Trump.

Still scrolling through his phone, Meadows said, “No, he wants to be alone right now.”

After rioters got into the Capitol, Cipollone rushed into Meadows’ office where he was still sitting on the couch with his phone.

Cipollone said, “The rioters have gotten into the Capitol, Mark. We need to go see the president now.”

Hutchinson recalled Mark saying back, “He doesn’t want to do anything, Pat.”

But something needed to be done, Cipollone said, or people would die and the blood would be on Meadows’ hands. At that point, Mark finally left the office and went to speak with the president.

5. He asked for a presidential pardon

Meadows sought a presidential pardon related to Jan. 6.

That information came in a brief exchange toward the end of Hutchinson’s testimony and offered few details.

A presidential pardon would prevent Meadows from facing any punishment for committing federal crimes.

He is one of several people — including Republican lawmakers and key players in Trump’s orbit — who sought a pardon following the insurrection, according to claims from the Jan. 6 hearings.

Hutchinson also testified that Meadows and Trump tried to include in a speech on Jan. 7, 2021, that Trump planned to pardon any insurrection participants, but White House counsel advised against it.

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