Trump’s ex-chief of staff’s suits smelled ‘like a bonfire’ from burning papers, book claims
- Cassidy Hutchinson said Mark Meadows burned papers so often after the 2020 election that his wife complained that his suits smelled of smoke
- The former Trump aide describes the burning papers in a new book, Enough, set to be released on Tuesday.
A former aide in Donald Trump’s White House says chief of staff Mark Meadows burned papers so often after the 2020 election that it left his office smoky and even prompted his wife to complain that his suits smelled “like a bonfire”.
Cassidy Hutchinson, who was a prominent congressional witness against former US President Trump before the House January 6 committee, described the burning papers in a new book set to be released on Tuesday. Associated Press obtained a copy of the book, Enough.
Hutchinson was a member of White House staff in her 20s who worked for Meadows and testified for two hours on national television about the White House’s inner workings leading up to and including the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol.
Trump and Meadows tried to challenge the former president’s election loss in several states. Both are under indictment in Georgia for what prosecutors have called an illegal conspiracy to overturn the results.
In her book, Hutchinson writes that starting in mid-December, Meadows wanted a fire burning in his office every morning. She says that when she would enter his office to bring him lunch or a package, she “would sometimes find him leaning over the fire, feeding papers into it, watching to make sure they burned”.
Hutchinson had previously testified to the House January 6 committee that she had seen Meadows burning documents in his office about a dozen times.