Ex-White House aide said she wanted Mark Meadows to 'snap out of it' and pay attention to the Capitol riot as it was unfolding
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
- An ex-aide to Meadows said she wanted him to "snap out it" and pay attention to the Capitol riot.
- Cassidy Hutchinson said she asked Meadows if he could see what was transpiring on his TV on January 6.
- She testified before the January 6 committee that she was "frustrated" by his reaction.
A former top aide to ex-Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Tuesday said she wanted him to "snap out it" and pay attention to the chaos unfolding at the Capitol building on January 6, 2021.
During her testimony before the January 6 committee, Cassidy Hutchinson said she sought to engage with Meadows on what was going on at the seat of the national government, as rioters upset about the certification of now-President Joe Biden's electoral victory breached the Capitol and sent lawmakers fleeing to secure spaces within the complex.
"I remember him being alone in his office for most of the afternoon. Around 2:00, 2:05, we were watching the TV and I could see that the rioters were getting closer and closer to the Capitol," she said.
Hutchinson continued: "Mark still hadn't popped out of his office or said anything about, and that's when I went into his office and saw that he was sitting on his couch, on his cell phone."
When she asked Meadows if he'd seen the television, his response was, "Yeah," per Hutchinson's testimony.
She then spoke of her exasperation at his lack of urgency while the Capitol was being ransacked.
"I start to get frustrated because I started to feel like I was looking at a bad car accident about to happen where you can't stop it but you want to be able to do something," she said. "I remember thinking in that moment, 'Mark needs to snap out of this and I don't know how to snap him out of this because he needs to care.'"