Witness: Meadows Told Me Jan. 6 May 'Get Real, Real Bad'

The Jan. 6 House panel has begun its surprise hearing—one that was abruptly scheduled only on Monday—with star witness Cassidy Hutchinson, who served as a top aide to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, per CNN. The 25-year-old had access to the former president's inner circle and "was in a position to know a great deal" about the goings-on related to the election and the Capitol riot, panel vice chair Liz Cheney said in her opening remarks. In an early revelation, Hutchinson recalls Meadows telling her on Jan. 2, 2021, days before the riot, that "things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6."

Those comments came after Meadows met with Rudy Giuliani, Hutchinson told the panel. She recalled walking with Giuliani after his Meadows meeting, and he asked her something along the lines of, "Cass, are you excited for the 6th?" When she asked why, she said he responded that "it's going to be a great day" and that "we're going to the Capitol. It's going to be great." He told her to ask Meadows about it, and when she did so, that's when he warned her that things might get bad. Hutchinson told the panel that was when she began to feel "scared" for the first time about what might happen. (More Jan. 6 hearings stories.)