"Republicans' takeaways from Smith's testimony were, at best, tangential to furthering their claims of weaponization. The main one concerned the House select committee on January 6th, which conducted a separate, public investigation. Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, was the star witness, testifying in the summer of 2022 that Trump had lunged for the wheel of the Presidential limousine and demanded to be taken to the Capitol."
"But the indictments that Smith's office secured were the strongest of the lot, and Smith's testimony illustrated their importance. Others may have second thoughts about the wisdom of pursuing Trump. Not Smith. "If asked whether to prosecute a former President based on the same facts today," he said, "I would do so regardless of whether that President was a Republican or a Democrat.""
Republican reactions to Jack Smith's testimony focused narrowly on Cassidy Hutchinson's credibility regarding an alleged incident in which Trump lunged for the presidential limousine's wheel and demanded to be taken to the Capitol. Smith characterized Hutchinson as a second- or third-hand witness and noted her account was contradicted by an eyewitness, portraying himself as a careful prosecutor attentive to hearsay limits. The indictments obtained by Smith's office were described as the strongest among post-presidential cases. Smith stated he would prosecute a former president on the same facts regardless of party, while allegations that the Justice Department had been weaponized intensified political attacks.
Read at The New Yorker
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