LETTER: Testimony from Jan. 6th hearings revealing, shocking

Editor, Register-Mail: Shocking revelations that should rock us to our core have been exposed by the Jan. 6th commission hearings. Cassidy Hutchinson, aide to Mark Meadows, former chief of staff to then-president Trump, gave public testimony on June 28 that there had been much discussion regarding the high potential for violence on Jan. 6, 2021; she testified regarding planning and some of the participants involved. The "inside job" to overturn the 2020 presidential election culminated in the Jan. 6th Insurrection-attempt at our Capitol. Trump was warned on Jan 6, that many rally-attendees were arriving armed and avoiding the magnetometers erected in the Ellipse area. Trump, angry about the small crowd in the speech-arena, demanded "the mags" be deconstructed saying, "they aren't here to hurt ME!"

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The inciters gave their fiery provocations, then Trump told his recruits, "We're going to the Capitol, and I'll be right there with you." Upon entering the presidential limo, Trump was IRATE when told he couldn't go to the Capitol; they didn't have enough security for that. Trump demanded of the Secret Service agent, Bobby Engel, "I'm the F'ing president, take me to the Capitol!" When denied, Trump grabbed the steering wheel; Bobby put his hand on Trump's arm, requesting he let go of the wheel, then Trump, with his free hand, lunged at Bobby's throat.

Trump tweeted to his recruits, "Mike didn't have the courage to do the right thing for our country." Hutchinson testified she overheard Trump, Meadows and Pat Cipollone, White House counsel, discussing the rioters chanting, "Hang Mike Pence," and moments later Cipollone confronted Meadows with the demand that they do more to quell the mob. Meadows said, "You heard it, Pat, he thinks Mike deserves it; he doesn't think they're doing anything wrong!" To which, Cipollone responded, "That's F'ing CRAZY!"

The insurrectionists had already infiltrated the Capitol building, stopping the certification process. Pence narrowly escaped the fate the mob-boss planned for him. Trump pressured Pence to refuse to certify the election count. Pence answered, "YES", to the cabinet member's text about invoking the 25th Amendment! PENCE called out the National Guard! It's startling to learn just how vast the plan was, how many cohorts participated and how close they came to succeeding in overthrowing the peaceful transfer of legitimate power in America, our rule of law, and undoing our 246-year-experiment in democracy. SHOCKING! — Trish Forsyth Voss, rural Victoria

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: LETTER: Testimony from Jan. 6th hearings revealing, shocking