Donald Trump 'grabbed Secret Service agent by throat' on day of Capitol riots, former aide Cassidy Hutchinson testifies
Donald Trump tried to seize the steering wheel of his presidential car and grabbed his Secret Service agent by the throat on the day of the Capitol riots, a former White House aide testified on Tuesday.
Cassidy Hutchinson said Mr Trump was "irate" when his head of security, Bobby Engel, told him it was unsafe for him to go to join his supporters on Jan 6, 2021.
According to her evidence, Mr Trump said: "I’m the f---ing president, take me up to the Capitol now."
The former president was in an armoured SUV dubbed "The Beast" at the time and reached to the front of the car "to grab at the steering wheel".
'Discombobulated'
When Mr Engel told him to remove his hand, Mr Trump “used his free hand" to lunge towards the agent, she said.
The account was related to Ms Hutchinson by Tony Ornato, who coordinated physical security at the White House and was in the vehicle at the time.
Ms Hutchinson personally saw Mr Engel soon afterwards and he appeared "discombobulated" by the experience, she said.
“When Mr. Ornato had recounted this story to me, he had motioned towards his clavicle," she said, holding her own left hand to her throat.
Mr Trump called Ms Hutchinson a "total phoney and leaker," and "bad news," and denied her story.
He said: "I hardly know who this person Cassidy Hutchinson is.
"Her fake story that I tried to grab the steering wheel of the White House Limousine in order to steer it to the Capitol Building is 'sick' and fraudulent."
He said it "wouldn't have even been possible to do such a ridiculous thing."
She made the claim in a surprise appearance before the Congressional committee investigating the deadly attack on the US Capitol on January 6 last year.
The 25-year-old served as an aide to Mr Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows and was present in the White House after Mr Trump's election defeat and his ensuing attempt to stay in power.
Trump didn't 'care' supporters were armed
In a live televised appearance, she said the former president and his aides were warned of the potential for violence in the days before January 6, when Congress would certify Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election.
Mr Trump said he did not "care" that his supporters were armed because they were "not here to hurt me" and encouraged them to go to the Capitol before the riot, Ms Hutchinson testified.
Mr Trump was “furious” that those who carried assault rifles or pistols were unable to pass security barriers because it left empty spaces at his rally outside the White House, she said.
Ms Hutchinson testified that both Mr Trump and his chief of staff knew many in the crowd were armed with AR-15s and handguns and equipped with body armour, brass knuckles and batons.
She said: "I overheard the president say something to the effect of, ‘You know, I don’t f-ing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the f-ing mags [magnetometers] away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in. Take the f-ing mags away’.”
'We're going to get charged with every crime imaginable'
After delivering his speech, in which he urged his supporters to "fight like hell" against Congress' certification of Mr Biden's victory, Mr Trump intended to join the crowds heading to the Capitol, Ms Hutchinson said.
Mr Trump's White House counsel, Pat Cipollone voiced legal concerns about Mr Trump's plan to march to the Capitol.
"We’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable”, Ms Hutchinson recalled Mr Cipollone warning.
Mr Trump was also informed that his supporters were chanting "Hang Mike Pence" of his vice president.
According to her evidence, Mr Trump responded that he thought “Mike deserves it”.
It was when Mr Trump got into the presidential SUV that his security team warned him they could not safely transport him to Capitol Hill, triggering his angry outburst.
The president was told "we don't have the assets" and "it's not secure," Ms Hutchinson said.
She added: "The president had a very strong, very angry response. Tony [Ornato] described him as being irate.
"The president said something to the effect of 'I’m the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now'."
“This is the smoking gun,” Solomon Wisenberg, a lawyer in the investigation that led to Bill Clinton’s impeachment, said of Ms Hutchinson's testimony.
The attorney told the New York Times that the evidence established a case for Mr Trump's criminal culpability on “seditious conspiracy charges.”
Trump 'threw dishes'
Ms Hutchinson gave further evidence of Mr Trump's anger.
She said Mr Trump once threw his lunch at the wall in the White House dining room, leaving a broken porcelain plate, and ketchup dripping down a wall, which she helped to clean up.
Ms Hutchinson told the committee she was aware of multiple instances of Mr Trump "either throwing dishes or flipping the tablecloth to let all the contents of the table go onto the floor and likely break or go everywhere".
Mr Trump said: "Her story of me throwing food is also false."
Ms Hutchinson's testimony provided the panel investigating the Capitol attack with some of its biggest revelations to date.
The appearance had been cloaked in extraordinary secrecy, and was announced just 24 hours prior.
It was unclear what prompted the surprise appearance, but US media reported there had been “sincere concerns” about Ms Hutchinson’s physical security because of her evidence to the committee.
