The House select committee on Jan. 6 is reportedly conducting a series of interviews with members of the Secret Service and staff who were involved in the motorcade that took Donald Trump from his rally on the morning of the attack, back to the White House. According to CNN, the committee has interviewed three former Secret Service agents, including agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, and the agent formerly assigned to lead the protection of Mike Pence.
Perhaps the most compelling testimony to emerge from the live hearings held by the House select committee on Jan. 6 came back in June, when Cassidy Hutchinson, a former assistant to Donald Trump’s chief of staff, revealed a conversation she held with former Secret Service Agent Tony Ornato. In that testimony, Hutchinson revealed how Trump had tried to get the White House motorcade to go to the Capitol on Jan. 6, so that he could personally lead the actions there.
Hutchinson: “The president said something to the effect of, ‘I’m the f’ing president, take me up to the Capitol now!’ … Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge toward Bobby Engel. And when Mr. Ornoto told the story to me, he motioned toward his clavicle.”
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Engel was not the driver of “The Beast” SUV, as has been sometimes reported by sources trying to insist that he would have been too far away from Trump to reach him. Engel was the Secret Service agent assigned to lead Trump’s protection on that day. The name of the driver has not been revealed.
The committee has previously spoken behind closed doors with both Ornato and with Engel. However, it reportedly wants to hear from them again after conducting additional interviews. Spokesman Guglielmi is among those who previously made statements apparently dismissing the testimony provided by Hutchinson, but it’s not known what he said to the committee under oath.
Previous reports indicated that an unnamed D.C. Metro police officer who was part of the motorcade that day was also interviewed by the committee and confirmed portions of the exchange relayed by Hutchinson, including the fact that Trump became angry and abusive when told he could not go to the Capitol. The name of that police officer has also not been revealed.
During a television interview in June, Guglielmi admitted that the Secret Service had asked the Metro Police to find a route for the motorcade to go to the Capitol, but were told there was no safe route available.
Immediately following Hutchison’s testimony, many media outlets reported anonymous sources disputing her statements. Over the following weeks, much of what Hutchinson said was treated as hearsay, even though it was told to her directly by Ornato, who was in the car in the presence of Engels, who did not dispute the statements. This means Hutchinson was relaying, under oath, the testimony of first-hand witnesses. But the media elevated anonymous sources who were not present to discredit her. However, the committee’s continued interest in this area and follow-up with members of the motorcade seems to indicate that there is definitely some truth to the story that Hutchinson relayed.
It’s also extremely interesting that the committee has interviewed Tim Giebels, the agent who was in charge of Mike Pence’s Secret Service detail on that day. Other testimony before the committee has reported that Pence was asked by his Secret Service agents to come with them and leave the Capitol that day, but refused to do so.
As Joan McCarter reported in July, the situation around Pence that day was extremely frightening. He was removed from the Senate chamber just steps ahead of the advancing mob amid chants of “Hang Mike Pence.” But despite people around him making statements about calling family members to tell them goodbye, Pence refused to leave the Capitol building with his Secret Service detail.
In that moment, he reportedly made this statement to Giebels: “Tim, I know you, I trust you, but you’re not the one behind the wheel," suggesting that he didn’t know where the Secret Service would take him if he was removed. Pence had just come off several heated conversations with Trump, who was insisting that he overturn the outcome of the election. Earlier in the day, Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, was reportedly locked out of his White House office and found his security badge deactivated.
Short has also testified before the committee.
At long last, the 2022 midterms are almost here! With the battle for the House front and center, we give you a window into the key races on a final pre-election episode of
The Downballot. We discuss a wide range of contests that will offer insight into how the night is going, including top GOP pickup opportunities, second-tier Republican targets, and the seats where Democrats are on offense. And with many vote tallies likely to stretch on for some time, we also identify several bellwether races in states that count quickly.