Trump threw dishes and flipped tablecloths 'several times' in the White House, ex-aide Cassidy Hutchinson testifies
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
- Trump threw dishes and flipped tablecloths multiple times in the White House, an ex-aide testified.
- Cassidy Hutchinson made the claims during testimony before the January 6 panel on Tuesday.
- "I grabbed a towel and started wiping the ketchup off the wall to help the valet out," she described one incident.
President Donald Trump repeatedly threw dishes and flipped tablecloths in the White House dining room at times when he became angry, according to testimony by a former aide to ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Cassidy Hutchinson spoke about Trump's conduct during a Tuesday hearing held by the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack. Hutchinson had closely observed the final days of the Trump White House, including the effort by the former president to overturn the 2020 election results.
"There were several times throughout my tenure with the chief of staff that I was aware of him [Trump] either throwing dishes or flipping the tablecloth to let all the contents of the table go onto the floor and likely break or go everywhere," Hutchinson said.
The comments came after GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the committee, asked Hutchinson about Trump's reaction to news in December 2020 that Attorney General Bill Barr said the Department of Justice found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the election.
Hutchinson testified that Trump threw his lunch at the wall in the White House dining room, adding that it's not the first time she witnessed him behave that way.
"I left the office and went down to the dining room, and I noticed that the door was propped open and the valet was inside the dining room, changing the tablecloth off of the dining room table," Hutchinson said. "He motioned for me to come in, and then pointed towards the front of the room near the fireplace mantle and the TV, where I first noticed there was ketchup dripping down the wall, and there's a shattered porcelain plate on the floor."
"The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney general's AP interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall," she added. "I grabbed a towel and started wiping the ketchup off the wall to help the valet out."
Hutchinson has become a valuable witness for the House committee's investigation, revealing that several Republican members of Congress sought pardons from Trump and further details about Trump's behavior on January 6.