Former President Donald Trump said on Jan. 6, 2021, that he didn't care that his supporters had weapons and that he wanted the Secret Service to allow them into his rally, a witness has testified.
Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, told the Jan. 6 committee that Trump was upset the day of the Capitol riot that the Secret Service was screening attendees of his rally for weapons. "He wanted it full, and he was angry that we weren't letting people through the mags with weapons," she said, referring to magnetometers used to screen for weapons. Trump spoke at a rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 prior to his supporters storming the Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the election results.
Hutchinson added that she overheard the formre president saying he didn't care that his supporters had weapons and that they should still be let through. "They're not here to hurt me," Hutchinson recalls Trump saying. "Take the effing mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in. Take the effing mags away."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Hutchinson also told the Jan. 6 committee during her bombshell testimony that Trump attempted to grab the steering wheel of the presidential limo to go to the Capitol on the day of the riot, revealing, "The president said something to the effect of, 'I'm the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now.'"
-
Affordability: Does Trump have an answer?Feature Trump ‘refuses to admit there is a problem’
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
-
Trump pivots on Epstein vote amid GOP defectionsSpeed Read The president said House Republicans should vote on a forced release of the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files
-
Is Marjorie Taylor Greene undergoing a political realignment?TALKING POINTS The MAGA firebrand made a name for herself in Congress as one of Trump’s most unapologetic supporters. One year into Trump’s second term, a shift is afoot.
-
How are these Epstein files so damaging to Trump?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As Republicans and Democrats release dueling tranches of Epstein-related documents, the White House finds itself caught in a mess partially of its own making
-
Will California tax its billionaires?Talking Points A proposed one-time levy would shore up education and Medicaid
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
