Crazy stuff in Washington today at the January 6th hearings. Take a look at this clip of Gen. Mike Flynn refusing to answer whether he believes in the peaceful transfer of power in the US, by taking the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. My God, this guy. This retired three-star general.

President Trump thought Mike Pence deserved to be hanged, according to testimony from Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson.

Hutchinson in this clip tells a jaw-dropping story about how President Trump tried to grab the wheel of the presidential limousine when his driver refused to take him to the Capitol to join the mob there. I suppose she could be lying, but I don’t think so. What’s in it for her to lie? This sounds in character for Trump, too.

What do you even say to that? This is batsh*t crazy! A man as insane as that was once President of the United States. It’s like something out of a bad Hollywood movie.

This man needs to be sent away. He did some good things, but he cannot hold power again.

UPDATE: To be fair, she’s not being challenged. She could be lying. I wish I thought she was lying.

UPDATE.2: And yet! Look at the insane, immoral man who is now in the White House:

UPDATE.3: A contrary view, one that says Secret Service agents are prepared to testify under oath that what Cassidy Hutchinson says happened never did. More:

I noted in this afternoon’s post that the January 6 committee has already interviewed Engel. Maggie Haberman reports that they interviewed Ornato too, many months ago. I assumed they had already corroborated the details of the SUV incident with the two of them and were having Hutchinson tell her story today in anticipation of Engel and Ornato telling it themselves in future testimony. Otherwise, why the hell would they have Hutchinson pass on a story second-hand on national television which might not bear out under scrutiny, causing it to blow up in their faces?

I assumed too much, it seems. And as others have noted, it *is* strange that this explosive account of what happened in the vehicle never once leaked in 17 months before today.

Much depends on Ornato now. If he testifies that he told Hutchinson about the SUV incident but got his facts wrong somehow — maybe he heard a rumor second-hand himself and irresponsibly passed it along — then Hutchinson’s credibility is intact. It’s the committee’s credibility that will be badly damaged, having allowed a witness to share a bombshell allegation that they hadn’t personally corroborated. That would be a disaster, but not a major disaster inasmuch as the SUV incident wasn’t the important testimony that Hutchinson gave today. The important stuff was when she claimed to have heard firsthand Trump say backstage at the January 6 rally that he didn’t care if his supporters were bringing weapons to the rally because he knew they weren’t meant for him.

Whatever. I’m sick of the craziness of Trump, and just want a conservative president who believes what Trump believes (or said he did), but who can be counted on to be a damn grown-up, and spare us the drama.

UPDATE.4: Dukeboy1, who is a retired cop, comments:

Yeah, have you ever seen The Beast (the Presidential limousine) in person? I have. The passenger compartment is cut off from the driver’s area. There is literally no GD way for Trump to have attempted to do what is being claimed. It is an absolutely ridiculous lie that is being put out there unchallenged.

I bow to no man in my disgust for Trump and my desire for him to just go away, but these hearings are a farce.

But Donald Trump had a new Beast built. This shot (taken from this photo essay about the Trump Beast) indicates that the president could have reached over and grabbed the driver: