Nearing the conclusion of the live Jan. 6 committee hearing on July 21, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., called the live women witnesses, “an inspiration to American women and American girls.” According to CNN, Cheney first named Cassidy Hutchinson and then nodded to Sarah Matthews, Wandrea ArShaye Moss, Ruby Freeman and Caroline Edwards.
Cassidy Hutchinson
Hutchinson, the 26 year old former Trump White House aide, gave a surprise testimony at the hearing three weeks ago. The Associated Press reported that Hutchinson’s testimony was only announced 24 hours in advance.
Hutchinson was previously a special assistant to then chief of staff Mark Meadows. According to the AP, she testified that then-President Donald Trump refused to stop the siege at the Capitol and that she overheard Meadows say that when Trump heard the chants of “Hang Mike Pence!”, Trump said that Pence deserved it.
Trump took to Truth Social to deny her testimony and call her “a total phony” and “bad news.”
Both Cheney and Matthews praised Hutchinson for her testimony.
Sarah Matthews
Matthews is the former deputy White House press secretary who resigned immediately in response to Jan. 6, saying, “As someone who worked in the halls of Congress, I was deeply disturbed by what I saw today. I’ll be stepping down from my role, effective immediately. Our nation needs a peaceful transfer of power.”
According to Politifact, Matthews testified that the former president held a meeting on Jan. 5 and asked how “we could make the RINOs (Republican in Name Only) do the right thing.”
CNN reported that Matthews defended Hutchinson in a tweet, “Anyone downplaying Cassidy Hutchinson’s role or her access in the West Wing either doesn’t understand how the Trump (White House) worked or is attempting to discredit her because they’re scared of how damning this testimony is.”
Wandrea ArShaye Moss and Ruby Freeman
Moss and Freeman are a mother-daughter pair who were election workers in Fulton County, Georgia, during the 2020 election.
The Washington Post reported that Rudy Giuliani accused Moss and Freeman of rigging the election. Moss and Freeman then faced many hateful, violent and racist threats. They were forced to quit their jobs because of the threats.
Using surveillance video, Giuliani accused them of exchanging USB memory sticks to rig the election. Moss and Freeman testified that the object in the video wasn’t a USB memory stick, but was a ginger mint.
Caroline Edwards
Edwards is a first responder in the U.S. Capitol Police force who suffered a traumatic brain injury on Jan. 6.
According to CNN, Edwards testified that the fighting on Jan. 6 was hours of hand-to-hand combat and that she was in shock as she saw officers laying on the ground. She said, “I was slipping in people’s blood. I was catching people as they fell. It was carnage. It was chaos. I can’t even describe what I saw.”
The Hill reported that Edwards was recently awarded with the inaugural D.C. Power Index Prize for her actions to defend the Capitol.