Angry Donald Trump tried to grab the handle of his presidential limousine when his security details refused to take him to the US Capitol where supporters were rioting, former aid. Testified.
One term president dismissed concerns that some supporters gathered outside the White House on January 6th last year for his fierce speech had an AR-15-style rifle. , She testified.
Cassidy Hutchinson, the top aid of Trump’s then White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, said Trump said that morning.
Hutchinson testified on the sixth day of a House of Representatives hearing against the deadly assault of the Capitol on January 6 by Trump followers, and the conversation was communicated to her by Trump’s Deputy Secretary of Operations, Tony Ornart. Said it was done.
the New York Times NBC, citing secret service sources, is ready to testify that Trump’s head of security details, Robert Engel and the limousine driver, have sworn that Trump has never squeezed the steering wheel. Said that. Engel was in the room when Ornato told the story, Hutchinson said.
the New York Times Citing an unnamed source, CNN reported that Ornato also denied the story and was ready to testify.
Hutchinson, citing a conversation with Ornart, joins the White House instead of joining supporters assaulting the House of Parliament, where Congress is meeting to prove that Democrat Joe Biden won the presidential election. He testified that he had a hard time with the Secret Service agent who insisted on returning to.
Trump’s supporters were excited by his false claim that the 2020 election defeat was the result of fraud.
“‘I’m the president. Take me to the Capitol now,'” Hutchinson quoted Mr. Trump, who was furious. She might have Trump grab the handle of a heavily armored presidential vehicle from the backseat. He said he tried to anger the Secret Service staff.
Republican Trump denied her explanation of his actions.
“Her fake story about trying to grab the handle to turn the White House limousine to the Capitol is’ill’and fraudulent,” Trump wrote in the social media app Truth Social.
In a statement, Secret Services said it was working with the House Committee and would respond “on record to the Commission on the new allegations revealed in today’s testimony,” media reported. .. Secret Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
Hutchinson’s lawyer, Jody Hunt, wrote on Twitter: “I witnessed under an oath and told her what she said. Those who are knowledgeable about the episode should also testify under an oath.”
Reviews by dozens of courts, election authorities, and Trump’s own administration have rejected allegations of his fraud, including eccentric stories about the tampering of US ballots by an Italian security company and the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Four people died on the day of the attack, one was fatally shot by police and the other died of natural causes. More than 100 police officers were injured and one died the next day. After that, four officers committed suicide.
Falsification of witnesses?
At the end of the approximately two-hour testimony, Senator Liz Cheney, one of the two Republicans in the nine-member house panel, presented evidence of possible witness tampering and obstruction of justice. ..
Chaney gave an unidentified witness a message advising that the unidentified person carefully watched their testimony and expected loyalty.
Republican Mick Mulvaney, who was Trump’s Chief of Staff before Meadows, said, “There is an old saying. It’s never a crime, it’s always a cover-up. I think things were very bad for the former president today. Will get worse from. “
Hutchinson told the Commission that Meadows and former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani sought amnesty from Trump.
Giuliani said on Tuesday he was not seeking amnesty from WSYR Radio in Syracuse, NY.
A rushed inquiry on Tuesday showed for the first time this month that former White House officials had appeared for live testimony at six hearings.
26-year-old Hutchinson speaks in a soft and solid tone, a photo of a panicked White House official confronting the possibility of Trump breaking into the Capitol and becoming a violent mob looking for Vice President Mike Pence. I drew. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers proving Biden’s victory over Trump.
“All imaginable crimes”
White House officials’ concerns focused on potential criminal accusations that Trump and others might face.
Hutchinson said White House counselor Pat Cipollone told her if Trump would go to the Capitol on January 6.
“We need to prevent this from happening. This would be a really terrible idea for us. Going to the Capitol that day raises serious legal concerns,” Hutchinson testified.
Hutchinson, sitting away from the Oval Office, testified that Meadows knew of the oncoming violence a few days before the attack on the US Capitol.
“‘On January 6th, things will be real and may really get worse,'” she quoted him as saying in the White House on January 2nd with her boss.
She testified that Giuliani said on January 6th: “We go to the Capitol, that would be great. The president will go there. He will look strong.”
At that point, she told a committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans:
This month’s hearing featured videotape testimony from people, including Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, and his former Attorney General, Bill Barr. They and other witnesses testified that they did not believe in Trump’s widespread fraudulent allegations and tried to discourage him from them.
Prior to resigning, Barr told The Associated Press in an interview that there was no evidence of fraud. According to a video testimony to the Commission from Trump’s White House spokesman at the time, Cary McKenny, it made Trump so angry that he threw lunch at the White House wall and broke the porcelain dish. , I left the ketchup dripping on the wall.
Hutchinson told the committee that it’s not uncommon to throw food when Trump is angry. The table can fall to the floor and break or go anywhere. “