By Bond Robertson 
US expert Eric Locke believes that Tuesday’s hearing on the attack on Congress in January last year was bad news for former President Donald Trump’s possible ambitions for a new round of the White House.
– This was a “bomb”. It takes a lot of surprise from Trump, but I was today, says Eric Locke, a consultant with the liberal think tank Civita.
On Tuesday, the committee, which was formed as a result of the storming of Congress in Washington, D.C., USA on January 6, 2021, held an additional hearing.
There, they summoned Cassidy Hutchinson, formerly Trump’s assistant chief of staff, Mark Meadows. During the hearing, she came with several other people Serious accusations against Trump.
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– This is the most harmful interrogation
Hutchinson said, among other things, that Meadows said Jan. 6 that Trump supported protesters in wishing then-Vice President Mike Pence’s death.
How would you describe Trump’s behavior? “We have someone in the administration saying under oath that Trump said Pence deserved to be executed,” Lockey says.
Hutchinson also alleged, among other things, that Trump strangled a Secret Service agent and ordered him to return to Congress before the riots, according to Hutchinson.
She also said that Trump wanted the security guards who let his supporters in to listen to his speech before the attack to let people in even though they were armed.
– that Trump knew the protesters were armed, but still encouraged them to march to Congress – this is the most damaging interrogation to date.
Locke tells that Trump was aware that he lost, but still tried to retain power by encouraging supporters to march to Congress, and trying to persuade Pence not to agree to the election.
Low chance of running
Locke thinks the Republican Party should now distance itself from Trump, but says it’s clear that won’t happen. However, he believes Trump could lose a lot of voters as a result of the hearing.
What happens to those Republicans who aren’t “Trump fans”? They may turn their backs on him. The diploma may influence some Republicans on the sidelines.
Locke believes this will weaken Trump’s chances of becoming a presidential candidate in 2024.
The chances of Trump being nominated in 2024 have fallen dramatically, but that is far from impossible. If he wanted to become a candidate, he would still be the favourite.
The same credibility
Luke says Hutchinson seemed very credible, and that Congress would do well to use more Republicans and the Trump family in the hearings.
– It is credible because it is loyal to Trump. She testified for democracy and patriotism and was a very strong witness.
Under oath, as Hutchinson was, the threshold for lying is much higher, Locke says. He adds that much of what Hutchinson said is based on rumour, and that credibility would have increased if the people she quoted, such as her boss Mark Meadows, had testified for herself.
Hutchinson was close to Meadows, but it’s hard to say to what extent some of that is an exaggeration, Locke notes.
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And it was previously revealed that Meadows had applied for a pardon in the wake of the storming of Congress.
– Says something about how they assess the situation. There were others who would be pardoned. They realized he was involved in something serious, says Locke.
Republican Liz Cheney commended Hutchinson, who led her hearing.
“All Americans should know that what Hutchinson did today was not easy,” she said, according to the Associated Press.
Feedback after the hearing was not absent.
Well-known journalist Dan Rather writes on Twitter.
The biggest scandal in American history. And that says a lot. lower chin; gross. He writes to be angry.
The former Trump administration official, Alyssa Farrah Griffin, said she was grateful for Hutchinson’s courage and integrity.
– I knew her testimony would be final. But I never thought it would be so devastating.
President and historian Michael Bichlos wrote on Twitter that no one in history had heard such horrific testimony before Congress against an incumbent US president.
Trump himself responded to the testimony by saying, “He hardly knew Hutchinson.”