A number of Secret Service agents are reportedly chomping at the bit to debunk one-sided testimony given to the January 6 Committee.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Committee held a last-minute, previously unplanned hearing to display "damning" testimony and "new evidence." Their star witness, former Trump White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson, told Pelosi-approved members that President Donald Trump lunged at a Secret Service agent from the back seat of The Beast, attempting to attack him, after his speech to supporters at the Ellipse on January 6. She also claimed he attempted to grab the steering wheel.
Cassidy Hutchinson testifies that she was told that as then-President Donald Trump was being driven back to the White House after the Jan. 6 rally that he demanded to be taken to the Capitol and tried to grab the steering wheel from a Secret Service agent. https://t.co/JefVhEsY0b pic.twitter.com/uUyQcnSlLG
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 28, 2022
But according to a number of reports, that never happened, and Secret Service agents are willing to testify under oath about the truth.
A Secret Service source told me earlier: “FYI, I’m calling bullshit on the Secret Service story. You think none of us would have never heard of this as an internal rumor? No fucking way.” https://t.co/NqEoljvBeD
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) June 28, 2022
NEW: @SecretService spox Anthony Gugliemi tells me the agents in Trump’s presidential SUV are “available to testify under oath, responding to [Hutchinson’s] new allegations.” (1/2)
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) June 29, 2022
A source close to the Secret Service says both men dispute Trump grabbed the steering wheel or assaulted an agent. They do not deny that Trump was irate and demanded they drive to the Capitol. (2/2)
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) June 29, 2022
ABC's @PierreTABC: "A source close to the Secret Service just told me to expect that the secret service will push back against any allegation of an assault against an agent or President Trump reaching for the steering wheel." pic.twitter.com/K1bKojJfSx
— Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) June 28, 2022
Further, the claim Trump demanded to go to the U.S. Capitol but was told no by Secret Service agents is also raising eyebrows.
...However, this is a bit different. In this case, there was no immediate threat recounted in the testimony. The President was overriding the security team in taking a risk by going to the Capitol...
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) June 28, 2022
...Again, the position of the security team was commendable. They are tasked with keeping the President safe and refused to take him into a dangerous area. However, it is an extraordinary moment in presidential history.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) June 28, 2022