According to a former White House employee, the former president asked that metal detectors be taken out of the ‘Save America’ demonstration because he was incensed that some of his followers could not pass security because they were carrying illegal firearms.
During a hearing on Tuesday, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former assistant to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, stated that Trump was ‘furious’ that attendees of his Stop the Steal rally, which preceded the melee, were denied access to the official grounds.
He appeared to be irate that his armed supporters were unable to pass the security magnetometers, making the audience number appear smaller than he had hoped.
She claimed that Trump commanded, “Take the effing magazines away,” in reference to the metal detectors that attendees had to pass through.
The former president is reported to have remarked, “Who cares if they have weapons, they’re not here to hurt me.”
The committee next played a film of Trump telling rallygoers to march to the Capitol, which seemed ominous in light of testimony saying he was aware that doing so posed a security risk.
On his social media site Truth Social, Trump vehemently refuted the allegations.
Never voiced complaints about the size of the audience, he added. I didn’t ask or want individuals with firearms to be able to see my speech, so please don’t do it.
Who aspires to that? Not me! In addition, no firearms were discovered outside or brought inside the Capitol. So where did all these weapons go? But regrettably, Ashli Babbitt was killed with a gun, and the user received no punishment!
During the Capitol disturbance, Babbitt attempted to enter the Speaker’s Lobby outside the House chamber through a broken window when she was tragically shot by police.
Just four days prior to the Capitol riot, the former top staffer to the White House chief of staff, who was only 25 years old, testified in court on Tuesday that she was told by Donald Trump’s chief of staff that “things may become real, real nasty on January 6.”
The former staffer’s testimony included several shocking details, including Trump’s stated demand on going to the Capitol with his supporters, who he was informed were armed.
She claimed he said, “I’m the effing president, take me to the Capitol immediately.”
Hutchinson claimed that when Secret Service refused, the man allegedly lunged at The Beast’s steering wheel.
You must remove your hand off the steering wheel, sir. Agent Richard Engel of the Secret Service informed Hutchinson that they were returning to the West Wing and not the Capitol.
Hutchinson recalled: “Mr. Trump then used his free hand to rush towards Bobby Engel.”
According to her, former deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato “motioned toward his collarbone” as a sign the president was attempting to slit the throat of his security detail.
Trump claimed on his app Truth Social around the end of the first half of the hearing that he “barely knows” Hutchinson.
‘I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, aside from hearing very negative things about her (a complete phony and a ‘leaker’), and when she requested to go to Florida with some other members of the team after I had served a full term in office, I personally turned down her request now,’ he said.
Hutchinson claimed that Trump was frequently enraged, once throwing his lunch against a wall, shattering a plate, and repeatedly flipping tablecloths “to let all the contents at the table go on the floor.”