Donald Trump knew that his supporters gathered a short walk from the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 were heavily armed.
He wanted to lead them to rush the Capitol as the certification of the 2020 election was ongoing.
Threw a fit, even.
The bulk of the details here came from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide of Vice President Mike Pence, who testified to the House Jan. 6 Committee on Tuesday.
The four things we learned
1. Trump knew his supporters were armed
Hutchinson said Trump was furious that security allow people milling around outside the cordoned-off space off the Ellipse be let in so that his rally would appear to be well-attended.
He was informed, she said, that the reason so many were staying outside the ropes was that they had weapons that would set off the metal detectors in place for his safety.
“Take the f***ing mags away,” Trump said, according to Hutchinson, who was within earshot. “They’re not here to hurt me. They can come in. Then they can march on the Capitol.”
Then, later, in his remarks to the crowd: “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Trump responded on his Truth Social page: “I didn’t want or request that we make room for people with guns to watch my speech. Who would ever want that? Not me.”
Uh, huh, sure.
2. Trump wanted to lead them there
After the speech, Trump was in an SUV to head back to the White House when, according to Hutchinson, he demanded that he instead be taken to the Capitol.
Told that it wasn’t safe for him to be there, Trump raged.
“I am the f***ing president. Take me to the Capitol now,” Trump said, according to Hutchinson’s account.
She then said he tried to grab the wheel of the SUV, an account that Trump disputed later Tuesday, sorta, kinda.
“Her Fake story that I tried to grab the steering wheel of the White House Limousine in order to steer it to the Capitol Building is ‘sick’ and fraudulent,” the former president posted to his Truth Social account, though, it must be pointed out, he wasn’t in a limousine, but rather in an SUV.
So, there’s some parsing of words.
Another parse: Trump didn’t deny demanding that he be taken to the Capitol.
He emphasized that he didn’t grab the steering wheel of a limo in order to steer it.
Trump left it out there that he wanted to go to the Capitol.
3. Trump refused to call off the mob
We already knew this, with Trump going radio-silent for three hours as the mob raged its way into and through the Capitol.
His chief of staff, Mark Meadows, spent most of that time scrolling through and typing on his phone.
We know that he was being deluged with texts, including from top Republicans under siege in the Capitol, demanding that Trump say or do something to call off his supporters.
Hutchinson testified that White House counsel Pat Cipollone stormed into Meadows’ office and said: “The rioters have gotten to the Capitol, Mark. We need to go down and see the president now.”
Meadows replied: “He doesn’t want to do anything, Pat.”
“Mark, something needs to be done, or people are going to die and the blood’s gonna be on your f***ing hands,” Cipollone responded. “This is getting out of control. I’m going down there.”
Meadows stood up, and the two of them walked down to see Trump in the dining room. When they returned, Hutchinson said, it was clear that Trump was unmoved.
“They’re literally calling for the vice president to be f***ing hung,” Cipollone told Meadows.
“You heard him, Pat,” Meadows responded. “He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn’t think they’re doing anything wrong.”
“This is f***ing crazy,” Cipollone said.
Trump denied via Truth Social that he said Pence “deserved” to be hanged.
Whether or not he would have had a problem with the mob hanging Pence is left to question.
4. Trump is now acting like a mob boss
Hutchinson was reportedly the subject of valid security threats in the days preceding her testimony. Jan. 6 Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney noted that these threats “raise significant concern” as the investigation into the efforts to overturn the 2020 election ramp up.
“Our committee commonly asks witnesses connected to Mr. Trump’s administration or campaign whether they have been contacted by any of their former colleagues or anyone else who attempted to influence or impact their testimony,” Cheney said.
“Without identifying any of the individuals involved, let me show you a couple of samples of answers we received to this question. First, here’s how one witness described phone calls from people interested in that witness’s testimony,” Cheney said, before reading a quote:
“What they said to me is as long as I continue to be a team player, they know I’m on the right team, I’m doing the right thing, I’m protecting who I need to protect. You know I’ll continue to stay in good graces in Trump world. And they have reminded me a couple of times that Trump does read transcripts and just keep that in mind as I proceed through my interviews with the committee.
“Here’s another sample in a different context. This is a call received by one of our witnesses,” Cheney continued, before reading another quote: “A person let me know you have your deposition tomorrow. He wants me to let you know he’s thinking about you. He knows you’re loyal, and you’re going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition.
“I think most Americans know what attempting to influence witnesses to testify untruthfully presents very serious concerns,” Cheney charged. “We will be discussing these issues as a committee and carefully considering our next steps,” Cheney said.
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Chris Graham
