Trump Tried to Commandeer His Own Presidential Limo to Join January 6th Riot, Testimony Shows
President Trump entering his Limo on October 29, 2020.Photo: Brendan Smialowski (Getty Images)
Cassidy Hutchinson describes the actions of Trump as he was returning in the limousine to the White House on January 6.Photo: Mandel Ngan (Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump is said to have lunged at his secret service agent and driver, Bobby Engel, while demanding to be taken to the Capitol on January 6th. This information came from a former White House aide who testified during a hearing of the House January 6 Committee, according to Business Insider.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to the former-White House chief of staff, recalled Trump saying something to the effect of “I’m the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now.” In return, Engel said “We have to go back to the West Wing.”
The former President also grabbed the steering wheel of the limo in anger after learning he wouldn’t be taken to the Capitol, according to Hutchinson.
Hutchinson said Tony Oranto, the Secret Service agent then in charge of Trump’s detail, recounted the lunging incident to her immediately after it happened in the presidential vehicle after the Ellipse rally, when Trump was determined to go to the Capitol.
“I noticed the head of Mr. Trump’s security detail sitting in a chair, looking somewhat discombobulated, a little lost,” Hutchinson testified. “I looked at Tony, he said, “did you hear what happened?” I said, “No, Tony, I just got back, what happened?”
“Tony proceeded to tell me that when the president got in, he was under the impression that the off-the-record movement to the Capitol was still possible and likely to happen,” Hutchinson continued. “As the president had gotten into the vehicle with Bobby, he thought they were going up to the Capitol. When Bobby relayed to him that we are not, we do have the assets to do it, it is not secure, we are going back to the West Wing, the president had a very strong and very angry response to that.”
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“The president reached up to the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm, said, ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel, we are going back to the West Wing, we are not going to the Capitol.’ Mr. Trump then used his free hand to launch toward Bobby Engel,” Hutchinson said, adding that when Ornato “recounted the story towards me, he aimed toward his clavicle.”
Engel, who was in the room with Ornato and Hutchinson didn’t disagree with Ornato’s recollection of the story, according to Hutchinson.
The former President has denied Hutchinson’s testimony about the incident calling it both “sick” and “fraudulent.”
“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, very much like the Unselect Committee itself – Wouldn’t even have been possible to do such a ridiculous thing,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
