Cassidy Hutchinson, who was an aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the administration of former US President Donald Trump, leaves after testifying during a US House Select Committee public hearing United to investigate the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol. on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 28, 2022.
Kevin Lamarques | Reuters
In scathing testimony before the House committee investigating the attacks on Capitol Hill, a former aide to then-President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, portrayed Trump as an enraged commander-in-chief in the weeks surrounding the attacks. unrest.
An irate Trump lunged at his own Secret Service agent, threw plates and refused to help his vice president as a crowd of angry rioters chanted “hang Mike Pence,” former Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson told lawmakers in over two hours of testimony on Tuesday recalling what she heard and saw in the days and weeks surrounding the events of January 6, 2021.
Trump took to his social media page on Truth Social to distance himself from the former aide, claiming he barely knew her.
Here are some key points from the hearing.
Trump attacks Secret Service agent
Hutchinson said he was told that The former president attacked a Secret Service agent after his security team refused to take Trump to the US Capitol as his supporters rioted in the halls of Congress.
Hutchison recalled a conversation he had with then-White House official Tony Ornato. She told the House panel that he explained to her that after Trump told his supporters that he would join them on their march to Capitol Hill, she insisted that the Secret Service take him there.
As Trump got into the presidential limousine, Ornato said Trump got the impression from Meadows that they were probably still going to the Capitol, Hutchinson testified.
When Secret Service Special Agent Bobby Engel conveyed that they weren’t going because it wasn’t considered safe, Trump “had a very strong and very angry response to that,” Hutchinson said Ornato told him.
“Tony described him as furious,” Hutchinson said. Trump said something like, “I’m the fucking president, take me to the Capitol now.”
Engel again refused, at which point Trump “reached out to the front of the vehicle to grab the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm and said, ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the wheel. We’re going back to the West Wing. ‘” Hutchinson testified.
Trump “then used his free hand to lunge at Bobby Engel,” Hutchinson said she was told. He added that when Ornato told him this story, he moved his hands to his collarbones.
Trump agreed to guns at rally
Hutchinson also said Trump told aides he didn’t care if his supporters brought guns to the Jan. 6 rally before the attack.
Trump then said words to the effect of: “I don’t care if they have guns. They’re not here to hurt me, take the damn magazines away. Let my people in, they can march on Capitol Hill from here.” ” Hutchison said in prerecorded testimony.
She said Trump was okay with removing the metal-detecting magnetometers because the president was convinced he wasn’t personally in danger.
Trump told staff that Pence deserved to be hanged
Hutchinson told the committee that Trump indicated to his team that he believed then Vice President Mike Pence deserved to be hanged. Trump supporters repeatedly chanted “Hang Mike Pence” after the former vice president helped certify the election results.
“I remember Pat Cipollone saying, ‘You’re literally asking for the vice president to be hanged,'” Hutchinson told the committee in a interview to describe how the former White House lawyer approached Meadows about the mutiny.
“You heard him, Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn’t think they’re doing anything wrong,” Hutchinson said, describing Meadows’ response to Cipollone.
Trump throws lunch against the wall
A few weeks before the attacks, in December 2020, Trump threw his lunch and plates against a wall when he learned that former Attorney General William Barr and the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread voter fraud, according to Tuesday’s testimony. .
In the wake of his loss to President Joe Biden, Trump began claiming without evidence that he had been “stolen” from the 2020 election thanks to widespread voter fraud. His own attorney general later discovered that there was no evidence to support that claim.
When news broke that the Justice Department had found no evidence to support its claims of voter fraud, “I remember hearing noise coming from the hallway,” Hutchinson testified.
“I left the office and went down to the dining room and noticed that the door was open and the valet was inside the dining room changing the tablecloth on the dining room table,” he testified.
Reference-www.cnbc.com