Jan. 6 hearing witness: Irate Trump grabbed wheel, demanded to go to Capitol
Cassidy Hutchinson said Trump was warned about potential violence, crimes.
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.
Here is how the hearing unfolded:
Surprise hearing signals committee's urgency
The House select committee will convene Tuesday afternoon for a surprise public hearing, signaling apparent urgency among members to reveal further findings from their year-long inquiry.
The hearing, scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET, will see the committee "present recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony," the group said in a news release Monday.
Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who was a top adviser to Donald Trump's last chief of staff, Mark Meadows, is expected to testify, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. Punchbowl News first reported her appearance.
Hutchinson is expected to put a voice to many of the internal White House interactions involving the events of Jan. 6 and offer significant insight into Meadows' actions and interactions with Trump.
Extraordinary hearing closes
It was among the shortest but most shocking Jan. 6 public hearings so far.
Cassidy Hutchinson, for nearly two-hours Tuesday, testified that 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 told urged them to march to the Capitol on Jan. 6.
She said Trump told aides to let individuals with weapons past security and into the crowd, which he was "furious" about due to its size, with Hutchinson recalling Trump saying, "'I don't care that they have weapons. They are not here to hurt me. Take the effing mags (magnetometers) 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 the Secret Service raising safety concerns.
Still, demanding to go to the Capitol, Hutchinson recalled being told that Trump grabbed the steering wheel in the president's SUV -- 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 testified Trump instructed Meadows to make contact with a "war room" in the Willard Hotel on the evening of Jan. 5 and advised Meadows against going in person after hearing Rudy Giuliani's plans for the day, which she said she overheard included "Oath Keepers" and "Proud Boys."
In a statement to ABC News, Roger Stone said it was "FALSE" that he spoke to Meadows on the phone on Jan. 5 "or any other date."