Cassidy Hutchinson, the former Trump White House aide who rose to prominence after testifying before the January 6th Select Committee, accuses Rudy Giuliani of groping her on the day of the Capitol riots in her upcoming memoir, Enough, according to the Guardian. Hutchinson—who testified that Trump was so angry that then-Attorney Bill Barr hadn’t found evidence of voter fraud that he threw his lunch at a wall—described Giuliani “like a wolf closing in on its prey.”
According to the outlet, which published news of the excerpt on Wednesday, Giuliani groped Hutchinson while they were among a scrum of Donald Trump supporters backstage during Trump’s speech near the White House on that January day in 2021. (The cute, little speech where Trump told supporters that “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”)
Hutchinson wrote that she felt Giuliani’s “frozen fingers trail up my thigh” and that when she looked over at Trump advisor John Eastman, he flashed her a “leering grin.”
Here’s how Hutchinson described the rest of the encounter, per the Guardian:
Describing the events on January 6, the deadly culmination of Trump’s attempt to overturn his defeat by Joe Biden, Hutchinson writes that she “experience[d] anger, bewilderment, and a creeping sense of dread that something really horrible [was] going to happen”.
“I find Rudy in the back of the tent with, among others, John Eastman,” she continues. “The corners of his mouth split into a Cheshire cat smile. Waving a stack of documents, he moves towards me, like a wolf closing in on its prey.
“‘We have the evidence. It’s all here. We’re going to pull this off.’ Rudy wraps one arm around my body, closing the space that was separating us. I feel his stack of documents press into the small of my back. I lower my eyes and watch his free hand reach for the hem of my blazer.
“‘By the way,’ he says, fingering the fabric, ‘I’m loving this leather jacket on you.’ His hand slips under my blazer, then my skirt,” Hutchinson writes.
Yuck.
Ted Goodman, a political advisor to Giuliani, gave this statement to Jezebel: “It’s fair to ask Cassidy Hutchinson why she is just now coming out with these allegations from two and a half years ago, as part of the marketing campaign for her upcoming book release. This is a disgusting lie against Mayor Rudy Giuliani—a man whose distinguished career in public service includes taking down the Mafia, cleaning up New York City and comforting the nation following September 11th.”
This definitely is not the first time Giuliani has (recently!) been accused of sexual misconduct. In May, a former colleague, Noelle Dunphy, filed a graphic 70-page lawsuit accusing Giuliani of rape and sexual harassment as well as wage theft, among other crimes. Dunphy claims that the former mayor hired her in 2019 as director of business development with a compensation package of $1 million per year plus expenses. Instead, she said, Giuliani not only paid her about $12,000 over the two years but also made her perform oral sex. Dunphy alleges Giuliani forced her to have sex at work so he could “feel like Bill Clinton.” Giuliani of course “unequivocally denies” her allegations, but also used his denial to slutshame Dunphy.
In addition to all the sexual assault and groping accusations, on Tuesday Giuliani was sued by a former attorney who says he owes more than $1 million. He’s also been found liable for defaming two Georgia election workers; pleaded not guilty to 13 racketeering and conspiracy charges alongside Trump and others; and had to put his luxe Manhattan apartment up for sale.
Hutchinson’s book comes out on Tuesday.