Jan. 6 hearing witness: Irate Trump grabbed wheel, demanded to go to Capitol

Cassidy Hutchinson said Trump was warned about potential violence, crimes.

Last Updated: July 21, 2022, 7:57 PM EDT

The House select committee investigating the U.S. Capitol attack heard stunning testimony on Tuesday from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

She told the committee and an international TV audience that then-President Donald Trump was warned about potential violence and crimes, that he wanted supporters with weapons let into his Jan. 6 rally, and that she was told he then demanded his security detail take him to the Capitol, going so far as to grab the wheel of the presidential SUV.

This was the sixth hearing this month investigating what the committee says was the conspiracy by Trump and his allies to overturn the election.

Jun 28, 2022, 2:33 PM EDT

Hutchinson: White House contact with Willard Hotel 'war room'

After a 10-minute recess, Vice Chair Liz Cheney asked Cassidy Hutchinson about interactions with her boss, Trump's chief of staff, had with key individuals ahead of Jan. 6.

Hutchinson said Trump asked Meadows to speak by phone with Roger Stone and former national security adviser Michael Flynn the day before the rally, and that Meadows asked her about meeting them at the Willard Hotel, in a "war room" assembled on the night of Jan. 5, which she expressed she didn't think was a "smart idea."

Cassidy Hutchinson, a top former aide to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testifies during the sixth hearing by the House Select Committee on the January 6th insurrection, June 28, 2022.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

"I wasn't sure about everything that was going on at the Willard Hotel, although I knew enough about what Mr. Giuliani and his associates were pushing during this period," she said, after recalling earlier Giuliani mentioning "Oath Keepers" and "Proud Boys." "I didn't think that it was something appropriate for the White House chief of staff to attend or to consider involving in."

Jun 28, 2022, 2:29 PM EDT

Witness: Trump threw his lunch against wall in anger

Hutchinson testified about the moment President Trump learned about an interview then-Attorney General Bill Barr had done with the Associated Press, in which Barr made clear the Department of Justice found no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

She remembered hearing a noise, and then going to the White House dining room to find the valet cleaning up. Ketchup, she said, was smeared on the wall and a broken plate was on the floor.

"The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney general's AP interview, and had thrown his lunch against the wall," Hutchinson testified live on Tuesday. The valet warned her to "steer clear" of the president.

It wasn't the first time Trump had thrown a dish out of anger, Hutchinson said.

"There were several times through my tenure with the chief of staff that I was aware of him 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," she said.

Jun 28, 2022, 2:07 PM EDT

Witness: Irate Trump physically assaulted security detail, demanded to be taken to Capitol

Cassidy Hutchinson recalled a shocking story of Trump's anger on Jan. 6 after being told he could not go to the Capitol to meet supporters following his "Save America" rally on the Ellipse -- leading to Trump physically assaulting his security detail on the way back to the White House.

Hutchinson recalled the conversation she had back at the White House just after the rally with Bobby Engel, part of Trump's security detail, who was "sitting in the chair, looking somewhat discombobulated," and Tony Ornato.

"As the president had gotten into the vehicle with Bobby, he thought they were going out of the Capitol and when Bobby had relayed to him were not, 'You don't have the access to do it, is not secure, we're going back to the West Wing.' The president had a very strong, very angry response to that," she recalled.

"Tony 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' -- to which Bobby responded, 'Sir, we have to go back to the West Wing.' The president reached up towards 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're going back to the West Wing. We're not going to the Capitol.'"

"Mr. Trump used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel and when Mr. Ornato recounted the story to me, he motions towards his clavicle," she said.

Jun 28, 2022, 1:57 PM EDT

Witness: Cipollone warned about criminal charges if Trump marched to Capitol

Hutchinson testified about the concerns some White House staff had about President Trump wanting to go to the Capitol with his supporters on Jan. 6. At one point that morning, Hutchinson said, then-White House counsel Pat Cipollone told her to make sure that it didn't happen.

"We're going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we go up to the Capitol," Hutchinson said Cipollone told her.

Crimes they were concerned about, she said, included defrauding the electoral count and obstructing justice.

The White House legal team was also concerned about aspects of Trump's remarks at the Ellipse, Hutchinson testified, and urged speechwriters not to include language about marching to the Capitol.

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