The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack held a surprise hearing Tuesday, with Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, delivering bombshell testimony.
Hutchinson, in a nearly two-hour testimony, established that then-President Donald Trump and Meadows were aware the Capitol was a target and that Trump supporters at the “Save America” rally were armed with weapons when the president urged them to march to the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Trump told aides to let individuals with weapons into the crowd, with Hutchinson recalling Trump saying, “‘I don’t care that they have weapons. They are not here to hurt me. Take the effing mags away.'”
Trump wanted to go to the Capitol himself after his speech, she said, and there was even conversation about having him go into the House chamber, despite the White House counsel’s office raising serious legal concerns and Secret Service raising safety concerns.
Still, demanding to go to the Capitol, Hutchinson recalled learning that Trump grabbed the steering wheel in the president’s limousine, called the Beast, on the way back to the White House and said, “‘I’m the f-ing president. Take me up to the Capitol now!'” before lunging at a Secret Service agent.
Hutchinson also confirmed Trump instructed Meadows to make contact with the “war room” in the Willard Hotel, where Roger Stone, Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani Giuliani were gathered, on the evening of Jan. 5. She advised Meadows against going in person after hearing Giuliani’s plans for the day, which she said she overheard included “Oath Keepers” and “Proud Boys.” Hutchinson told the committee, “I didn’t think that it was something appropriate for the White House chief of staff to attend or to consider involving in.”
Source-ABC
