Secret Service agents willing to testify Trump did not lunge at steering wheel during Capitol riot: source
'I'm the f---ing president. Take me up to the Capitol now,' former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified Trump told the Secret Service on Jan. 6
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Two Secret Service agents are prepared to testify before Congress that then-President Donald Trump did not lunge at a steering wheel or assault them in an attempt to go to the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, a source close to the Secret Service tells Fox News.
The explosive new allegations were made on Tuesday by Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone repeatedly warned staff in the days before the rally that "we're going to get charged with every crime imaginable" if Trump goes to the Capitol, Hutchinson testified.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testifies before the House Jan. 6 Committee on June 28, 2022, as Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., questions her. (Fox News)
Following Trump's speech at the Ellipse, he got into the presidential SUV under the impression that he was going to the Capitol, then had a "very strong, very angry response" when the head of his Secret Service detail, Bobby Engel, said they were going to the White House.
"The president said something to the effect of, 'I'm the f---ing president. Take me up to the Capitol now," Hutchinson testified, relaying what she was told later that day by another White House aide, Tony Ornato.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The president reached up toward the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm and said, 'Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We're going back to the West Wing. We're not going to the Capitol.'"
President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Washington before the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Engel and the SUV driver, an unnamed Secret Service agent, are prepared to testify before the Jan. 6 committee that the president did not lunge at the steering wheel. The Jan. 6 committee and the Secret Service are in discussions about whether one or both men will appear on camera.
The news was originally reported by NBC after Hutchinson's testimony on Tuesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A former White House aide testified Tuesday that President Trump wanted to go to the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
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Jody Hunt, a former Justice Department official in the Trump administration who is representing Hutchinson, tweeted that others with knowledge of the events should appear before the Jan. 6 committee.
"Ms. Hutchinson testified, under oath, and recounted what she was told," Hunt tweeted. "Those with knowledge of the episode also should testify under oath."