Cassidy Hutchinson Googled "Watergate" to help decide whether to cooperate with January 6 committee

[Kennah]

Source: Business Insider

She felt that she had to get out of Washington. She jumped in her car and drove to her parents house, in New Jersey. On the way, she considered the possibility that history might offer some insights into her situation. She Googled "Watergate." She only knew the basics about the scandal that had ended the Nixon presidency, and she wanted to find someone from that crisis who had faced a similar dilemma. She settled on Alexander Butterfield, the White House aide who told Congress that Nixon had an Oval Office taping system. She opened a new tab and found that he'd written a book with Bob Woodward. She had it shipped to her parents house. She read it three times.
...
"If I'm going to pass the mirror test for the erst of my life," she told the committee, "I need to try and fix some of this."

Hutchinson didn't think that she had anyting on Trump on par with Nixon's taping system. But she had heard about an incident from Tony Ornato, Trump's deputy chief of staff at the time, where Trump angrily demanded to be drive to the Capitol to join the rioters on January 6. Ornato had even joked with her about it, she told the committee later. "It could be worse," Ornato said, according to Hutchinson's recollection. "The President could have tried to strangle you on January 6th."

She decided that she would share what she knew. She didn't tell Passantino. "I didn't really want to tip him off to anything," she said later. "I have the genius idea to take the matter into my own hands ... maybe I can do a little course correction here."

Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/cassidy-hutchinson-googled-watergate-to-help-decide-whether-to-cooperate-with-january-6-committee-2022-12

---

Lawrence O'Donnell said his staff were contacted by people who are friends of Cassidy Hutchinson after Alexander Butterfield appear on Lawrence's show in July. Cassidy Hutchinson asked to be put in contact with Alexander Butterfield, and they spoke via Zoom.

[Haggard Celine]

1. Sounds like she's got some sense.

Maybe there's hope for her. I'm sure a lot of it is self-preservation, though. She was probably scared about committing perjury. Also, I don't know what she plans to do next, but she needs to move forward as a person with some dignity, even if she did once work for Trump.

[RockRaven]

2. Googled Watergate, huh? Big brain on this one...

[SunSeeker]

6. She in fact showed a lot of intelligence.

She didn't Google Watergate because she didn't know anything about it. As the article says, she Googled Watergate because "she wanted to find someone from that crisis who had faced a similar dilemma. She settled on Alexander Butterfield..." I don't think most people would have thought to do that.

Lawrence did a great piece tonight on why she picked out Alexander Butterfield. She determined he was someone who held a similar position to hers in the White House. She then read his book about how he handled giving what turned out to be damning testimony revealing Nixon had tapes of everything. It inspired her to tell the truth. I highly recommend you watch it:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017792222#post3

And she was only 25 when she testified, yet showed more poise and eloquence than other witnesses twice her age. I am VERY impressed with her. You could tell she had a very sheltered life, and was brought up to support Republicans by her very Republican parents. It obviously took a lot of courage and fortitude to turn against all that.

Cassidy was the first person in her family to get a college degree. Her political science professor was Rachel Bitecofer, the liberal election guru and political strategist.
https://people.com/politics/cassidy-hutchinson-knew-life-would-change-if-she-testified-against-donald-trump/ Sounds to me like Cassidy absorbed every word and took her lessons to heart.

[LiberalFighter]

17. She seems to be the type that doesn't get wild. Tries to be rational.

[Hekate]

22. +1000. I am also very impressed with Cassidy. This had to have been terribly hard.

[33taw]

8. Considering she was 24 years old in 2021 - I'll give her a pass.

[IronLionZion]

10. The bar is significantly lower for conservatives

so it's a wise move .... for a Republican.

[TheRickles]

12. At least she knew what she didn't know, and went to find the answer. Kudos to her.

[viva la]

13. Smarter than all those Trump top aides and cabinet officers

Who thought history had nothing to teach them... even the ones who lived through it.

[J_William_Ryan]

3. "Sounds like she's got some sense."

If she had any sense she wouldn’t have worked for the likes of Trump to begin with.

[speak easy]

4. & you have not made serious mistakes in your life?

& when you saw the big picture, you just wanted out

[Javaman]

9. +1000

repukes only operate via one instinct: self preservation. never anything for the greater good.

"something is only a problem when it effects me, otherwise everyone else can fuck off".

I don't cut her any slack. she was part and parcel to the inner workings for a long time and only decided to "help" when her future was threatened. She only had "sense" enough to find the best way out of this to save her own skin.

she could have quit a very long time ago.

[IronLionZion]

11. I've made plenty of mistakes at her age

it's good to wise up earlier in life than later

[NBachers]

5. Watergate means less to someone who graduated high school in 2015 than to we who survived Nixon.

She deserves credit for picking the right research target.

[padah513]

7. People made a big deal about Pence doing the right thing, but that wasn't true.

Pence tried to find a way to do it wrong before he did it right. Cassidy Hutchinson tried to find a way to do it right to keep from doing it wrong

[tavernier]

14. Exactly

[crickets]

21. Well put. nt

[tavernier]

15. IMO opinion if you and your co-worker

are talking about your boss like that together… “it could be worse, he could’ve tried to strangle you”… then you both already know that he’s a nut job.

[LiberalFighter]

16. I wonder if she will ever interact with her dad again.

He seemed to be a piece of work.

[Paladin]

18. Her dad deserves the bad press coverage he's getting.

And plenty more of it, as far as I'm concerned. Maybe he can eventually draw some comfort from having a daughter who's a national heroine.

[republianmushroom]

19. this lady has more intestinal fortitude than most republican men that is for sure

[milestogo]

20. She should have had lunch with Jill Wine-Banks and gotten some perspective.

[summer_in_TX]

23. Cassidy Hutchinson went out of her way to

gain perspective. She did her own research, developed her own criteria for the kind of position that she felt would be most comparable to her own. She got his book, read it three times, contacted him and talked to him. Then she made the right decision, to reject the offer she got through her own lawyer to receive personal gain for protecting Trump.

She came forward and told the truth. Not much more we could ask of her than that.

Lots of people had perspective on Watergate, but she chose the one she thought had the most to offer her. It seems to have worked for her.

Smart young woman of character. Can't fault her for believing in the person her family and friends all fell for when she was such a youngster. Many are influenced by their peer group and family.

[dembotoz]

24. so i wonder what her future holds

black listed by the gop...thats for damn sure

former trump aide is not good for a resume

she would be an interesting interview candidate but an unlikely hire

but the girl has to eat