Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson's new book ("Enough") details the last days of the Donald Trump administration and is chock full of tantalizing details. Whatever you thought was going on inside the Trump administration, the reality was likely much worse.
CNN's initial review seems fairly extensive, and even the summary is a real hoot. "If I can get through this job and manage to keep [Trump] out of jail, I'll have done a good job," White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows allegedly told Hutchinson in June of 2020 as Trump's reelection fight was in full swing.
One of the most noteworthy episodes of potential criminal activity in the White House is Hutchinson's allegations that Meadows was burning so many papers in his office fireplace that his wife complained she couldn't keep up with the dry cleaning. "[A]ll his suits smell like a bonfire," she complained. But Hutchinson also relates Meadows handing over classified documents to far-right media personalities, as well as both White House counsel Pat Cipollone's attempts to get them back and his acidic request to her to inform Meadows that "we cannot pardon Kimberly Guilfoyle's gynecologist.” According to Hutchinson, that wasn't a joke.
It seems the mishandling of classified documents was widespread in the Trump White House. On a Monday appearance on the “Rachel Maddow Show,” Hutchinson tactfully admitted that she and "colleagues" were "under the impression that how classified documents were being handled was not within proper protocol."
But it's Hutchinson's other examples of cavalier lawbreaking (and worse) that look to be the most noteworthy bits of her book. One example is her already-known account of Trump's furious demand that they get rid of the metal detectors at his January 6 rally and let the crowd stay armed. In the week leading up to the book's release, the press has seized more quickly on some of the more tawdry goings-on, however. Among the first leaks from the book was Hutchinson's account of being groped by Rudy Giuliani on January 6, just before the mob stormed the Capitol. While that;s another gross episode for Giuliani, it's not nearly as consequential as the coup attempt that the rally had been organized to help facilitate.
Likewise, there's Hutchinson's description of Rep. Matt Gaetz being an obnoxious sleaze-job. She described a moment when Gaetz made a pass at her: "He chuckled and brushed his thumb against my chin, saying 'Has anyone told you that you're a national treasure?'"
Hutchinson also described a late night at Camp David where Matt Gaetz knocked on the door of a cabin, believing it belonged to her, since her golf cart was parked nearby. In actuality, the cabin belonged to Kevin McCarthy, who answered the door. Gaetz suddenly straightened his posture when McCarthy opened the door and asked him what he wanted. Gaetz replied that he thought it was her cabin, having seen her cart outside. Hutchinson heard what was going on, and opened the door of her cabin. Gaetz claimed that he was lost, and turned to her, asking her for directions Hutchinson told him to proceed around the circle drive-- "all the cabins are clearly marked. It's impossible to get lost." Gaetz persisted, asking her one more time to leave with him, but McCarthy interjected-- saying, "Get a life, Matt."
Gaetz later tried to deny the incident happened-- and went so far as to call Hutchinson a liar and claimed that he dated her a number of years ago. In response, Hutchinson said about Gaetz, "I never dated Matt Gaetz. I have much higher standards in men. And Matt, frankly is a very unserious politician."
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