‘The lie hasn’t gone away’: Jan 6 committee chairman says Trump threat to elections is ongoing
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows’s top aide Cassidy Hutchinson has testified before the committee investigating the 6 January attacks at the Capitol.
She told the committee that the president said, “I don’t f***ing care that they have weapons,” when he was warned his supporters were heavily armed in the moments before he encouraged them to march on the Capitol.
Once the president finished speaking to throngs of supporters on January 6, he was reportedly “irate” his security staff didn’t want him to make an unplanned visit to the Capitol, so much so that he tried to grab the wheel of the presidential limousine and allegedly attacked a Secret Service agent.
Eventually, according to Ms Hutchinson’s testimony, as rioters breached the Capitol, the president nonchalantly said vice-president Mike Pence “deserves” to have extremists chanting that he should be hung for refusing to overturn the 2020 election.
The former president attacked the testimony, claiming he barely knew the “sick” Ms Hutchinson.
Donald Trump is definitely using Truth Social now…
Donald Trump strangely took days before he made his first posts on Truth Social, his pet social media app.
He’s certainly on the site now, using it to unload on witnesses who testify before the January 6 committee.
Josh Marcus29 June 2022 08:15
Cheney shares article arguing case for prosecuting Trump is getting stronger
Republican representative Liz Cheney, a member of the House select committee investigating the last year’s 6 January attack at the Capitol, retweeted an article that argued that the case to prosecute the former president is getting stronger after the bombshell hearing.
The article, titled “The Case for Prosecuting Donald Trump Just Got Much Stronger” from The Dispatch by David French concluded that Mr Trump may not face criminal charges for his actions but the latest testimonies have helped link the former president to violent actions in the run up to Capitol riots.
Shweta Sharma29 June 2022 07:17
Even for Trump, this is a pretty wild story
An “irate” Doanld Trump grabbed the steering wheel of his limousine and attacked a Secret Service agent when he was told he was not being taken to the US Capitol, the January 6 committee has been told in its most stunning hearing yet.
In cool, measured tones, that were in stark contrast to the incidents she was describing, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson said she was told Mr Trump wanted to go to the Capitol so badly he attempted to grab the steering wheel of “The Beast” after being told he was going back to the White House instead.
He also grabbed at the “clavicle” of a Secert Serice agent, Ms Hutchinson testified.
Tony Ornato, then-White House deputy chief of staff, told Ms Hutchinson that Robert Engel, the Secret Service agent in charge on January 6 2021, had repeatedly told Mr Trump on their way back to the White House after his rally speech that it was not safe to go to the Capitol.
Andrew Buncombe has the details.
Josh Marcus29 June 2022 07:15
Watch moment when aide says Trump ‘threw his lunch against wall’
In one of the gripping scenes Cassidy Hutchinson recalled, she Mr Trump threw his lunch — including the plate it had been served on — against the wall of his private dining room. It left behind a smear of ketchup on the wall.
She said it was in reaction to former attorney general William Barr’s declaration that the presidential election had not been tainted by fraud.
Trump ‘threw his lunch against wall’ leaving trail of ketchup on Jan 6, former aide tells hearing
Shweta Sharma29 June 2022 06:47
The Trump pardon wish list got even longer today
They’re the latest in an ever-growing list of Trump inner circle members who sought pardons related to the Capitol riots.
Here’s Gustaf…