I would love to be able to cross-examine someone like Tony Ornato, formerly of the Secret Service who had been head of Trump’s protective detail before the unprecedented promotion from a security position in Secret Service to a political position as Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff.
When questioned about the events of January 6, 2021, especially with regard to some of the details related by Mark Meadow’s aide (and Trump loyalist) Cassidy Hutchison, Ornato repeated claimed he “did not recall.”
In light of the recent revelations as to how attorneys provided by the Trump crime family INSTRUCTED their clients not to recall, I would pursue a line of questioning that would include the following:
Q: Were you advised by counsel to answer that you “do not recall” even if you did, in fact, recall the facts because it would be difficult to provide evidence to the contrary?
Q: Are you a trained law enforcement officer (Secret Service)?
Q: As a trained law enforcement officer, is it true that you are trained to be observant and watchful and make mental notes for future recall in assembling and defending criminal cases for prosecution?
Q: January 6, 2021 is a date that, like December 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbor) or November 22, 1963 (JFK assassination) or September 11, 2001 (Bush fails to connect terrorist dots day) that anyone alive at the time remembers where they were and what they were doing. ESPECIALLY someone who was there and in the middle of the action should be able to remember what they saw, what they did and what happened. Many of your lesser subordinates remember clearly the events of the day. Yet you, as a trained law enforcement and security specialist who was right in the middle of the action, after being coached to not remember (even if you did) now claim not to recall any of the relevant details of what was going on around you at the time?
Q: Do you have dementia or are you severely incompetent?
Any other suggestions for cross-examination follow-up questions?
I would love to be able to cross-examine someone like Tony Ornato, formerly of the Secret Service who had been head of Trump’s protective detail before the unprecedented promotion from a security position in Secret Service to a political position as Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff.
When questioned about the events of January 6, 2021, especially with regard to some of the details related by Mark Meadow’s aide (and Trump loyalist) Cassidy Hutchison, Ornato repeated claimed he “did not recall.”
In light of the recent revelations as to how attorneys provided by the Trump crime family INSTRUCTED their clients not to recall, I would pursue a line of questioning that would include the following:
Q: Were you advised by counsel to answer that you “do not recall” even if you did, in fact, recall the facts because it would be difficult to provide evidence to the contrary?
Q: Are you a trained law enforcement officer (Secret Service)?
Q: As a trained law enforcement officer, is it true that you are trained to be observant and watchful and make mental notes for future recall in assembling and defending criminal cases for prosecution?
Q: January 6, 2021 is a date that, like December 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbor) or November 22, 1963 (JFK assassination) or September 11, 2001 (Bush fails to connect terrorist dots day) that anyone alive at the time remembers where they were and what they were doing. ESPECIALLY someone who was there and in the middle of the action should be able to remember what they saw, what they did and what happened. Many of your lesser subordinates remember clearly the events of the day. Yet you, as a trained law enforcement and security specialist who was right in the middle of the action, after being coached to not remember (even if you did) now claim not to recall any of the relevant details of what was going on around you at the time?
Q: Do you have dementia or are you severely incompetent?
Any other suggestions for cross-examination follow-up questions?