June 29, 2022: Jan. 6 panel may have found its 'smoking gun'

It’s hard to imagine how Tuesday’s surprise hearing of the House Jan. 6 committee could’ve been more damning for President Donald Trump. With vivid stories told in measured tones, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former special assistant to the president and aide to chief of staff Mark Meadows, “stitched together every element of the panel’s case against Donald Trump,” our Kyle Cheney and Nicholas Wu write. “The Capitol riot committee has painted the former president’s potential criminal culpability for his effort to overturn the election in stark hues: investigators have portrayed Trump fuming atop an increasingly conspiracy-addled West Wing and working to corrupt the peaceful transfer of power at any cost.” Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.