Cassidy Hutchinson told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow about lugging around classified information in a Whole Foods bag after pro-Donald Trump reporters returned the documents to Mark Meadows.
After the release of her book, Enough, the full details were revealed. According to Hutchinson, Meadows infuriated the White House counsel with the move. He made a last-minute mad-dash for the Justice Department, claiming Trump declassified the information after Trump had already left the White House, according to Hutchinson. The DOJ refused to declassify the information, but Trump's allies maintain Trump filed the necessary paperwork in time.
"I watched [Meadows] climb into the limo, noticing the original Crossfire Hurricane binder tucked under his arm," Hutchinson writes. "I didn’t have time to ask what he planned to do with it as he drove away. My mind whirred with questions. Why would [Trump] keep me on payroll? Generosity isn’t his style. And what the hell is Mark doing with the unredacted Crossfire Hurricane binder?"
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It was the day before the inauguration.
"At around 10:30 p.m., I saw Pat Philbin power walking toward my office. Great, I thought. What could possibly be going wrong now?" she writes. Trump had already left the office and many other staffers carried their belongings out.
“How many copies of that Crossfire Hurricane binder did Mark make? Where are all the copies?” Pat asked Hutchinson. “How many of them have been distributed?”
“Slow down,” she told Philbin. “How many copies? I have no idea. There are some in our office…”
She described many binders thrown around the room with "still-classified but supposedly soon-to-be-declassified information, but the Crossfire Hurricane binders were easy to identify because of how thick they were."
“Did Mark already give copies to Mollie Hemingway and John Solomon?" Philbin asked. Hutchinson describes them as "the conservative journalists who the president and Mark were acquainted with."
“Yeah, he had a few of his Secret Service agents meet Mollie and John in Georgetown earlier tonight while you all were in the Oval Office with the boss," she told Philbin.
"The color drained from Pat’s face. 'Seriously?'"
"I tried to tell him not to—” she told Philbin.
“What about the others? What about the binders he said you were giving to Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell?” Philbin said, cutting her off.
“I called Kevin and cryptically described what the binder is. He asked why Mark wanted him to have a copy. I told him I was not sure, but I did not think he needed a copy. Actually, I told him he probably should not take a copy. Kevin agreed,” she recalls saying.
“What about Mitch?” Philbin asked.
“I did not call him. If Kevin is not getting a copy, Mitch is not, either. What’s going on, Pat?” the book continues.
"He was scanning the room and asked where Kevin’s and Mitch’s binders were. I handed them to Pat, and he stormed out toward the staircase. I followed Pat upstairs into the White House counsel’s office," Hutchinson recalls. Philbin yelled for Pat Cipollone.
“Explain to Cip what you just told me," Philbin said.
"I did. The two Pats exchanged a concerned look," she recalls
“Why did Mark have HPSCI (House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence) recommend the redactions? The Crossfire Hurricane binders are a complete disaster. They’re still full of classified information,” Pat Cipollone said. “Those binders need to come back to the White House. Like, now. Can you call Mark?”
There were 13 hours left of the Trump presidency and Hutchinson describes fearing a "potential national security crisis."
"I was barreling down the staircase when I bumped into one of the Secret Service agents on Mark’s detail. He was clutching a Whole Foods brown grocery bag full of loose documents," she recalls.
“Hey, Cass! Do you know where the chief is? He asked me to go pick this up for him in Georgetown. Sorry it took me so long, there are so many road closures—”
She grabbed the bag, asking where the binders were.
“The binders? Oh, yeah, the binders. I don’t know. John Solomon said that all the documents are here, though. So there’s nothing to worry about,” the Secret Service agent said.
"Dismayed, I turned around and sped up the staircase, back into the White House counsel’s office. I dropped the bag on Pat Cipollone’s floor. 'Here are your classified documents back from the reporters, Mark.'"
It was 11:45 a.m. and Joe Biden was to be sworn in at noon.
"There was one large binder tucked under his arm. Mark turned to the agent who had picked up the disheveled papers from John Solomon that morning. 'How fast can you get me to the Department of Justice?' Mark asked. The agent looked at Tony. 'They can use lights and sirens, sir. You should make it there before noon, even with the road closures.' Mark nodded. 'Good, let’s do it. I am not going to be the chief of staff who doesn’t get this binder declassified.' The agent sprinted to Mark’s limo to prepare it for departure. Mark handed me his work phone and said, 'Can you off-board me and make sure this is wiped clean?' Tony interjected. 'Already taken care of, sir. We have you covered.'"
The document submitted by Meadows claims that on Jan. 19, Trump "declassified certain materials related the (sic) Federal Bureau of Investigation's Crossfire Hurricane investigation."
The New York Times reported in Aug. 2022, that the Meadows plan was scrapped after Justice Department officials said releasing the binder could break privacy laws. The Crossfire Hurricane binders that Hemingway and Solomon had seen were still classified.
In March 2023, America First Legal, Stephen Miller's so-called nonprofit organization sued the National Archives and the Justice Department on behalf of Solomon after he was denied access to the Binder that Meadows had already given him. They claim in a press release that the documents were already declassified by Trump.
"Mr. Solomon then requested that the National Archives provide him access to a binder of documents related to the FBI’s abusive 'Crossfire Hurricane' investigation of President Trump," the release claims. It goes on to falsely say "President Trump declassified these documents in early 2021."
It's unknown if Trump had his own copy of the binder along with the information he took to Mar-a-Lago.
