'There’s a brawl': Cassidy Hutchinson book describes scared Secret Service agent and Martial Law
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, privy to an advance copy of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson's book, regaled viewers on Monday night with one of the juicier passages. In it, Hutchinson details the moment that Hutchinson walked in on former President Donald Trump plotting martial law with his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, leading to chaos and a near revolt of half of his higher-ups.
"When I walked into the Outer Oval I saw that the president was meeting with General Mike Flynn, the former National Security Adviser, who had pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his involvement with Russian officials, cutting a cooperation deal in special counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry into interference in the 2016 election," Maddow read. "Three weeks before today's meeting on November 25th, Trump had issued Flynn a presidential pardon. 'Why is Mike Flynn here?' I asked Molly. 'I'm not sure,' Molly said, then added 'He is just talking to the president about some things.' Talking to the president about some things. 'Got it.' I went back to my office and settled in."
"Molly came to my office soon after and asked if we had a wine opener," the book continues, to which Hutchinson replied they didn't because Mark Meadows doesn't drink.
"I tried to joke but she did not crack even a slight smile. I sighed," Maddow continued reading. "'I know the Vice President has one. I'll call his assistant.' A few minutes later Pat Cippollone, Pat Philbin, Eric Herschmann and Derek Lyons barrelled down the hallway past my office door and rounded the corner toward the Oval Office. I was imagining various reasons Mike Flynn could have for being there that had the lawyers in a panic, but then I remembered it was Derek Lyons' last day at the White House and figured I was overthinking it. Flynn had probably left and maybe there was a toast for Derek in the Oval Office to celebrate his tenure at the White House. Pat Cipollone's top aide and Derek's fiancée, Liz Horning, wandered in and wondered if I knew what was going on in the Oval Office. She had dinner plans and could not get in touch with him. I said 'I'm not sure, but a bunch of people are in the Oval.'"
"On cue, we both turned toward the sound of raised voices from that direction," Maddow continued reading. "Though the Oval Office was a ten-second walk from my desk, it was highly unusual to hear any words coming. We could not make out distinct words, just people screaming at each other. Molly called me to come to the Outer Oval. Dan Scavino was pouring the last of a bottle of wine into a glass. The screaming was much louder than I anticipated. I looked into the Oval Office and saw a larger group. With the White House lawyers were Mike Flynn, Sidney Powell, and Patrick Byrne, the CEO of Overstock.com. How did all these people get inside the building? I could tell the meeting was growing more contentious, so I decided to text the Deputy Chief of Staff. 'Flynn is still here and Sidney Powell. There is a brawl.'"
"He responded, 'Oh, holy hell,'" says the book. "Tony immediately called and asked if I knew what they were brawling over. He had been in the Oval Office earlier that day and heard the president talk about invoking the Insurrection Act or Martial Law. If that's what they were arguing over, Tony said, I needed to get Mark Meadows back to the White House as soon as possible."
Meadows didn't want to get on the phone with Trump. Hutchinson tried to convey it was a matter of national security.
"A Secret Service agent standing outside the Oval Office came by. The agent said, 'I don't want to hear all of that. It's really upsetting. I wouldn't recommend going down there. The Oval Office is unhinged,'" the story continues.
"Dan stopped by on his way home and said, 'This is effed up. This can't be happening,' he said," Maddow continued. 'This is effing insane.' Pat Cipollone looked at me and said, 'This is nuts.'"
Maddow later included an excerpt from Hutchinson on Page 321: “An unhinged chief executive, willing to overturn the will of the people and plunge the country into chaos and violence on the advice of crazy people. For what? To avoid the embarrassment of conceding an election he knew he had lost?”
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'There’s a brawl’: Cassidy Hutchinson book describes scared Secret Service agent, wine & Martial Law www.youtube.com