Seth Abramson

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

52/ Hutchinson has started speaking. She is obviously nervous, but in the good way—I say this as a former trial attorney who has called and questioned *many* in-court witnesses—that makes you trust what she is saying as honest and earnest. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

51/ Thompson starts by showing pictures of Hutchinson’s career, including how close she often was to Ted Cruz, Jim Jordan, Steve Scalise, Kevin McCarthy... basically *everyone* atop the Republican Party. There was also a picture of her aboard Air Force One. She is a key player. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

50/ Cheney is clear in saying that Cassidy Hutchinson can testify not just to the words and actions of her former boss, Mark Meadows, but also the former President of the United States, Donald Trump. Thompson will begin the questioning. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

49/ Cheney says that Hutchinson will testify about the knowledge people in the White House had about the January 6 violence "before it happened." Whoa. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

48/ Hutchinson used to work for House leadership (Scalise). The first potential bombshell: Cheney implies that Hutchinson has information about activities inside the *Secret Service*. She implies that Hutchinson has so much to say that it cannot and will not all come out today. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

47/ Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) is noting how prominent a Republican Hutchinson has been for a long time, implying that she is known and respected and trusted by many—including many Republicans. She says Hutchinson is testifying on "several important, cross-cutting topics." — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

46/ For the first time, Committee Chair Thompson references there being an extensive "cover-up" attempt that is ongoing within Trumpworld *right now*, which certainly makes me think that there have been provable attempts to *tamper* with Cassidy Hutchinson as a federal witness. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

45/ Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) begins by summarizing the January 6 conspiracy and notes that *new* evidence has been received about exactly what was going on inside the White House *on January 6* and in the days immediately before January 6. He says America needs the info *now*. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

44/ The hearing has just been gavelled open. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

43/ There’s also some reporting indicating Hutchinson can offer more info on the *truly terrifying* internal coup attempt at DOJ we heard about last Thursday. I would point people again to the PROOF report linked to above in this thread—it has links/info on this you really need. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

42/ I’ll also note that CNN is issuing two reports in advance of this hearing: (1) A Committee rep told CNN that "a lot that is new" will come out today. (2) Some of the new evidence the Committee got from Hutchinson *may* result to info recently gotten from her personal phone. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

41/ Note that—not that it matters—Trump loyalists are now trying to pull the "coffee boy" routine on Hutchinson that they pulled with George Papadopoulos during the Russia probe. Uh, *no*. Hutchinson was inches away from the center of power—she was at the heart of *everything*. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

RT @SethAbramson: 2/ This live thread is of course free. If, as you follow it from now until 4:00PM, you feel moved to use the tip jar in m… — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

RT @SethAbramson: 1/ At times I may make reference in this thread to evidence previously published in the nearly 200 reports on January 6 t… — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

RT @SethAbramson: (🧵) LIVE THREAD: I’m now live-tweeting today’s (Tuesday’s) 1PM ET House January 6 Committee hearing. I’m a lawyer, journa… — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

40/ That Hutchinson is appearing with multiple lawyers and—again, though we don’t know what this means—"guests" *could* suggest we are going to get something even more extraordinary than we expect. But I guess we’ll see. The hearing will be gaveled in in 5 minutes. Stay tuned. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

39/ So as you follow this live thread, this is one thing I hope you’ll watch out for: do we just get live testimony about things we already knew, and/or more corroboration of the *types* of evidence we already have, or do we get evidence that is new in *kind* as well as *degree*? — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

38/ My point is that a lot of analysts are looking at today’s Hutchinson hearing and hoping for either more of the same type of evidence we have already heard or an amped up version of that type of evidence. *I* will be more excited if we move to even *graver* forms of evidence. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

37/ This said, one reason we haven’t heard much about these acts yet is that—well—the Committee hasn’t gotten to that point in its narrative yet! That is the subject of at least two upcoming July hearings. But I do wonder if it could partly be a subject of *today’s* hearing, too. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

36/ In fact, and this is quite legally significant, Trump engaged in *other overt acts* that furthered a seditious conspiracy actively rather than passively—which while we already *know* with respect to DOJ and Pence (et. al.), is *also* true with respect to the January 6 attack. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

35/ Some people believe that, besides Trump’s January 6 speech, his private comments, and his unwillingness to call out the Guard or tweet admonishment of his armed and violent supporters—all of which *do matter*, and a *lot*—Trump did nothing to further the events of January 6. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

34/ The impression that many Americans have is that *with respect to the violence on January 6*—as differentiated from the many criminal phone calls and meetings Trump held regarding DOJ, electors, state legislators and Pence—all the Committee has is (a) words, and (b) omissions. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

33/ By the same token—and perhaps more controversially—I’m less interested in Trump’s offhand vocal expressions of heinous opinions (e.g., regarding Pence) as while they *do* help establish his state of mind and criminal intent, they also leave a false impression that worries me. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

32/ As to what I am (as an attorney and journalist and former criminal investigator) *less* interest in than some others, I would say this: pardon requests. First, because Hutchinson already testified to this, and second because we need evidence of what members of Congress *did*. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

31/ I’ll say that I’m personally interested—though I don’t know if it’ll be part of this hearing or not—in whether Hutchinson can or will or does testify to any federal witness tampering orchestrated by Donald Trump or his agents. It is a serious crime and would be true to form. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

30/ Kaitlin Collins (CNN) gives a good summary of how close Hutchinson was to the action (and remember throughout the day today that Hutchinson is another example of the Committee using a *loyal Trump Republican* to present evidence and *not* a Democrat): https://t.co/0B3dOxJWYE — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

RT @SethAbramson: (🧵) LIVE THREAD: I’m now live-tweeting today’s (Tuesday’s) 1PM ET House January 6 Committee hearing. I’m a lawyer, journa… — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

29/ CNN also reported (as I implied above in the thread) that Hutchinson *may* be the witness who heard Trump say—either first-hand or by it being relayed to her contemporaneously by her boss, Meadows—that he though it might be just and proper for the Vice President to be hanged. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

28/ It is always important to remember that in a criminal investigation you are not only focused on what someone says and what it means, but how the evidence provided to you by one witness—material or testimonial—can then lead to *new* investigative leads, witnesses, or evidence. — PolitiTweet.org

Seth Abramson @SethAbramson

27/ This is key because—remember—Giuliani was working with Eastman, who was in contact with Ginni Thomas at the time, and Meadows was in contact with his friend and ally Ginni Thomas during that period also. This is one example of the "domino effect" today’s testimony could have. — PolitiTweet.org