In a sign of the dark change in the American right, Cassidy Hutchinson has been forced into hiding after testifying about Trump.
This is Not The America Many Thought They Knew
Too many of us are even now a bit intellectually lazy. We still think that this is the America we grew up in, the country it was from the 70s, through 9-11, and even when some of us dared to hope for change. No, we are not with the times. At the state level, in the U.S. Senate, and in rallies thrown by a bellicose, narcissistic terrorist, this country has far more in common with contemporary Russia than what we hoped to be a more enlightened America. Alexander Vindman once said, “Here, truth matters.” Truth does matter but in a new way. Vindman ended up summarily fired for telling Trump truths. And now, when Cassidy Hutchinson bravely tossed aside her Trump-protecting attorney, to tell the truth, she is forced into hiding. It is Putinesque, a new era.
Cassidy Hutchinson Is In Hiding But Has Bonded With Liz Cheney
As reported by the New York Times, it was Hutchinson who received the message before her deposition: A person “let me know you have your deposition tomorrow. He wants me to let you know he’s thinking about you. He knows you’re loyal. And you’re going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition.”
The shockingly bold witness tampering and Hutchinson’s testimony about Trump’s behavior on January 6th forced the Committee to schedule her public hearing four days later as an anonymous witness, in order to protect Hutchinson and keep her relatively safe. She also likely hid during the interim four days, though that’s speculation. She is hiding now, that’s a fact, according to the Times:
Now unemployed and sequestered with family and a security detail, Ms. Hutchinson, 26, has developed an unlikely bond with Ms. Cheney, a Wyoming Republican and onetime aide to former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell during the George W. Bush administration — a crisis environment of another era when she learned to work among competing male egos. More recently, as someone ostracized by her party and stripped of her leadership post for her denunciations of Mr. Trump, Ms. Cheney admires the younger woman’s willingness to risk her alliances and professional standing by recounting what she saw in the final days of the Trump White House, friends say.
It is heartening to hear that Hutchinson has been taken under the wing of Cheney. Despite being irretrievably conservative in her economic and regulatory approach to government, Cheney has emerged as an unlikely hero of classic Western Liberalism and an inspiration to young women everywhere. Hutchinson is up against raw, unapologetic, purposefully-intimidating power radiating from Trump World, and as much as liberals despise the dynastic Cheney-Halliburton-Bush-MI Complex ecosystem, it at least provides Hutchinson a modicum of “pushback power” and she likely won’t be unemployed long. For that, we should be thankful. Our schools are stuffed with proto-women that will need a more relatable role model in the future.
And yet it is unbelievably sad that the witness who changed history, the brave young woman who told Trump truths is forced into a position that looks far too much like that of dissidents and journalists who tell the truth about Putin or MBS, despite the fact that Joe Biden, a retro-All American guy himself is president. What if Trump gains power again? Hawley? DeSantis? Is Hutchinson safe? Could she work as an executive at Halliburton, headquartered in Houston?
We cannot know. Not yet. This country’s future starts to get really hazy after mid-November 2024. We absolutely know that all things Trump, MAGA, and even GOP. abhor transparent truths and relish revenge. They are already gearing up to investigate the investigators. The witness who changed history has a vague and dangerous future. Similar to witnesses in Russia, one wonders if this patriot has a future in this country, especially if Trump is charged with a crime, forcing Hutchinson into the role of witness again.
Hard to know. For now, even we liberals can be thankful that Hutchinson is firmly within Cheney-World while vilified by Trump-World. At least the Cheneys want the old America back, one in which truth mattered, the one we assumed would last, and the one in which Hutchinson would be safe.
Jason Miciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, while also studying scientific philosophy, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact for speaking engagements or any concerns.