Why Should We Believe Anything They Say, Ever?
Is it any wonder that people simply don’t believe a single word that spews forth from the actors and actresses in Congress?
There’s a stunningly-familiar pattern in our modern theater of pseudo-justice: partisan entities will rush to embrace any witness if they support an underlying political narrative.
We’re seeing this unfold in real time during the absurd January 6 committee hearings, when a “surprise” witness claimed that Trump — in an apparent fit of misinformation-addled rage — assaulted Secret Service members and tried to grab the steering wheel of an SUV when agents supposedly refused to take the president to the Capitol Building.
“The president said something to the effect of, ‘I’m the f’ing president, take me up to the Capitol now,’” said Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, referencing a conversation with then-White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Tony Ornato, on what transpired in the vehicle between Trump and Bobby Engel, a Secret Service agent. “The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm, said, ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel, we’re going back to the West Wing. We’re not going to the Capitol.’”
“Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel,” Hutchinson added. “And Mr. — when Mr. Ornato had recounted this story to me, he had motioned towards his clavicles.”
Just hours later, NBC News’ Chief White House correspondent, Peter Alexander, reported that according to a source “close to the Secret Service,” both Engel and the vehicle’s driver are “prepared to testify under oath that neither man was assaulted and that Mr. Trump never lunged for the steering wheel.”
Whoops!
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Ian Haworth to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.