In testimony Tuesday to the U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6 capitol raid, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson said then-President Donald Trump intended to go to the US Legislature as his supporters protested, alleging fraud in the election in which Joe Biden was elected in 2020.
Hutchinson said that Tony Ornato, then the White House deputy chief of staff, reported that, upset with the Secret Service’s guidance not to go to the Capitol, Trump even “reached his hand in front of the vehicle.” [a limusine presidencial] to grab the steering wheel” and try to go in the direction of the Legislature.
The former aide also reported that Trump had been told in the morning that some of his supporters had had their weapons confiscated, and that before a speech at the White House, the then-president asked that metal detectors not be used – claiming that supporters ” are not here to hurt me” and saying that he “didn’t care” if they were armed.
Committee members found the statement problematic, as Trump supporters later made their way to Capitol Hill and stormed it to prevent the session in which US congressmen ratified Biden’s victory.
“The potential for violence to occur was discovered or known before the violence began, early enough for President Trump to take steps to prevent it,” said Republican Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, vice chair of the committee.
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