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| Photo Credit: AP. |
A former acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said that a “friend” who was in the White House during the January 6 Capitol riot told him that Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows was experiencing “a little bit of both” incompetence and a “nervous breakdown” as the event unfolded, The Hill reports.
During an
interview with CBS Friday, Mulvaney said that he trusts testimony that Meadows’s
former top aide Cassidy Hutchinson gave to the House committee investigating
the attack, according to The Hill. She described Meadows to lawmakers as
disengaged.
Mulvaney noted
that he was texting with a friend who was in the West Wing on January 6 as
Hutchinson was testifying.
“I said, if
I listen to Cassidy closely, it sounds like Mark was either completely incompetent
at the job or having a nervous breakdown, and the person texted back it was a
little bit of both,” Mulvaney said, according to The Hill.
He added that
the position of chief of staff was “critical” in a moment like the
insurrection, but Meadows seems to have “checked out entirely.”
According to
The Hill, Mulvaney said he defended former President Trump for more than a
year, arguing that his actions on that day were not criminal but Hutchinson’s
testimony changed his view of the situation.
Mulvaney said
Friday he knows Hutchinson and she has “no reason to lie”.
Rep. Liz
Cheney (R-Wyo.), a strong critic of Trump showed text messages toward the end
of the hearing that indicated Trump have engaged in witness intimidation.
Hutchinson’s explosive testimony alleged that Mr Trump picked a fight with some Secret Service agents who refused his request to join his riotous supporters to the Capitol Hill, adding that he instructed staffers to remove metal detectors at the Capitol to allow more of his supporters into the facility at a time.
She
noted that Trump knew some of his supporters were armed and said he doesn’t
“care” if they are armed. Hutchinson
said when Trump was told that his supporters were chanting “hang Mr Pence”, Trump
responded by saying he “deserves it”. Some of the Secret Service agents present
at the time have disputed Hutchinson’s testimony.