The House committee investigating former President Donald Trump and his associates due to the Capitol riot held a hearing on Tuesday touting a former aide to then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about what she heard leading up to and on January 6.
Cassidy Hutchinson testified she heard Trump allegedly attempted to lunge for the wheel of a vehicle being driven by a Secret Service agent in a fit of rage when he found out he was not going to be taken to the Capitol building after giving his speech near the White House. When the agent refused to go to the Capitol, Hutchinson said Trump then reached for area around the agent's neck.
Hutchinson's claim about Trump's actions spread like wildfire as, to many, it showed how far he was willing to go to carry out the riot.
A big problem with Hutchinson's claim, however, is that Secret Service agents are set to testify that Trump did not reach for the wheel or the agent's throat.
New: Source close to the Secret Service tells @PierreTABC to expect the Secret Service to push back against any allegation of an assault against an agent or President Trump reaching for the steering wheel.
— John Santucci (@Santucci) June 28, 2022
?? A source close to the Secret Service tells me both Bobby Engel, the lead agent, and the presidential limousine/SUV driver are prepared to testify under oath that neither man was assaulted and that Mr. Trump never lunged for the steering wheel.
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) June 28, 2022
UPDATE: A Secret Service official familiar with the matter told CNN that Tony Ornato denies telling Cassidy Hutchinson that the former president grabbed the steering wheel or an agent on his detail.
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) June 29, 2022
"FYI, I’m calling bullsh*t on the Secret Service story. You think none of us would have never heard of this as an internal rumor? No f**king way," a Secret Service source told Townhall.
