US: Secret Service agents deny Trump attacked them in the car

At the sixth hearing of the committee investigating the attack on Capitol Hill, witness Cassidy Hutchinson said she was told that the former president tried to take the helm and attack an agent because he did not get what he wanted - to join his rioting supporters on Capitol Hill

News agencies

30/06/2022

Thursday, 30 June 2022, 10:17 Updated: 12:30

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Former United States President Donald Trump ended his speech at the rally on the morning of January 6, 2021, and entered his black Chevrolet Saber.

What happened next, according to the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, Assistant Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during Trump's tenure, sounds insane, and many are now disputing it.

According to Hutchinson, Trump wanted to continue from the rally to Capitol Hill to join his supporters, who refused to accept the fact that he lost the election.

His security staff, she said, refused to take him to the Capitol knowing there was a possibility of violence, especially given the fact that the angry mob had armed themselves.

In the video: Testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House staffer on the Commission of Inquiry into the Capitol Breaking (Reuters)

Chinson described in her testimony at a House committee hearing investigating the Capitol Hill attack Tuesday night that Anthony Orento, the deputy chief of staff, said Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of the car he was driving when he was told he could not join his supporters at Capitol Hill.

She added that according to Orento, Trump jumped on his main secret service agent, Robert Engel, and tried to strangle him demanding that he fulfill his request, despite his warnings that the situation had become dangerous.

Now, Secret Service officials are disputing the testimony, and Trump agents are willing to provide details about what happened in the car.

The fact that they are willing to speak is a very unusual move by an agency that has historically placed in the first place the need to maintain secrecy when it comes to the president.

Cassidy Hutchinson at hearing (Photo: Reuters)

A source close to the Secret Service told CBS News that the driver of the car and Engel were willing to testify under oath that Trump did not attempt to take control of the steering wheel and did not verbally insult them or physically hit them.

Three other agents who accompanied Trump that day also disagree with testimony that he tried to grab the wheel or attacked one of the agents, a source told the Washington Post.

Yesterday (Wednesday) Judy Hunt, a Chinson lawyer, said his client "stands behind the testimony she provided under oath" and that he calls on anyone who knows details about Trump's behavior in the car to come testify before the committee.

In an interview with NBC Network, committee member Stephanie Murphy, a Florida Democrat, said that "Orento does not clearly remember what happened, compared to Chinson."

Congressman Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, and a co-chair of the committee, said Hutchinson's testimony was the primary "evidence."

"I am unaware of evidence that contradicts her testimony," he added.

However, according to Anthony Giulielami, a spokesman for the Secret Service, the commission did not contact the agency regarding Chinson's testimony about the car ride before the hearing.

Orento, who was in charge of Trump's secret service staff before being appointed deputy chief of staff, and Engel, provided testimony before the commission before Chinson testified, but they are willing to do it again, a Secret Service source said.

The riots on Capitol Hill (Photo: Reuters)

The controversy highlights Trump's relationship with his Secret Service staff, which is unlike any other similar relationship in the past.

According to sources involved in the matter, the agents adored and supported Trump more than any other president, and Trump for his part, the sources added, nurtured their loyalty.

Trump even tried to make his chief agent part of his personal political team.

He appointed Oranto deputy chief of staff - a move that surprised many who saw it as an inappropriate appointment.

Agents, on the other hand, were also known for their affection for some of the presidents, for example, George W. Bush Sr., while many of them reportedly disliked Bill Clinton, and especially his wife Hillary.

But they have always insisted that they are not part of the political team.

The fact that Trump's agents are now willing to come to the defense of the boss they were supposed to protect is problematic, and puts the Secret Service in a problematic position that has never been.

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