Secret Service Agent Willing to Testify Trump Never Lunged at Him, Contradicting White House Aide
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The Secret Service agent who former president Donald Trump allegedly attacked on January 6 is prepared to dispute that claim under oath, contradicting the testimony of a former White House aide who made the allegation during her Tuesday testimony before the January 6 committee.
Former aide to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, Cassidy Hutchinson, testified before the House select committee on the Capitol riot in a surprise hearing scheduled at the last minute. In her testimony, Hutchinson claimed Trump demanded that his Secret Service escort take him to the Capitol, where his supporters had begun to rally after listening to the president speak. When agent Bobby Engel refused, Trump lunged at the steering wheel and, when Engel restrained him, lunged toward Engel’s neck, according to Hutchinson.
“The president said something to the effect of, ‘I’m the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now,'” Hutchinson said, recounting details she says she was told by White House deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato.
The Secret Service told CBS News it plans to “respond on the record” to Hutchinson’s allegations, but a source close to the service told the outlet the “Engel and the driver are prepared to testify under oath that neither man was physically attacked or assaulted by Trump and that the former president never lunged for the steering wheel of the vehicle.”
“The United States Secret Service has been cooperating with the Select Committee since its inception in spring 2021, and will continue to do so, including by responding on the record to the Committee regarding the new allegations surfaced in today’s testimony,” Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement provided to CBS News.
Three Secret Service agents who were next to Trump on January 6 disputed that Trump grabbed the steering wheel or lunged for Engel, according to one current and one former law enforcement official speaking to the Washington Post.
NBC’s Peter Alexander also claimed a source told him Engel and the driver are willing to testify the assault and the lunging never happened.
Earlier in her testimony, Hutchinson said that Trump demanded that Secret Service allow his armed supporters into the cordoned-off area where he was delivering his remarks. Hutchinson said that many of Trump’s supporters refused to walk through the metal detectors — or magnetometers — that had been set up to secure the area, and Capitol police spotted several men in the crowd carrying handguns and Ar-15 rifles.
“I don’t f***ing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the f***ing mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in. Take the f***ing mags away,” Trump said at the time, according to Hutchinson.
Secret Service confiscated numerous weapons from the Trump supporters who did walk through the metal detectors, including knives, toxic sprays, and brass knuckles. Hutchinson said that Meadows did not look up from his phone when Ornato informed him that some members of the crowd were armed, and instead asked Ornato if he notified Trump about the weapons. Ornato said he had, according to Hutchinson.
