Secret Service plans to respond to Jan. 6 committee regarding Trump’s actions
Pool photo by Mandel Ngan
After Cassidy Hutchinson, a former staffer in the White House testified on Tuesday detailing former President Trump’s actions leading up to January 6, 2021, the U.S. Secret Service will have more to say to the House Select Committee on January 6. She informed the committee at a last-minute hearing that Trump wanted to visit the Capitol with his supporters as Congress was meeting in a joint session to tally the electoral votes.
“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 to CBS News.
Tony Ornato, the White House’s deputy chief of staff for operations, and Robert Engel, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service, were in a room together on January 6, according to Hutchinson’s evidence before the committee. Hutchinson claims that Ornato stated during the meeting that the president became “irate” in his car after being told he couldn’t travel to the Capitol. Hutchinson recalled him saying something along the lines of “I’m the f***ing president, take me up to the Capitol now.”
According to Hutchinson, Ornato told her that when Trump was told he had to go back to the West Wing, he went up to the front of the car to grab the steering wheel, which caused Engel to grab his arm.
She said that Ornato “motioned towards his clavicles” when recalling the incident, adding that the president then lunged at Engel with his free hand. Hutchinson clarified that no portion of what Ornato said was incorrect or in disagreement with Engel.
Although 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 went for the car’s steering wheel, a source close to the Secret Service confirmed to CBS News that this is the case.
According to Hutchinson’s account before the committee, the Secret Service agents do not contest that Trump was enraged or that he asked to be escorted to the Capitol.
Many hours have been provided of testimony to the Jan. 6 committee so far, dating back to spring 2021 by the Secret Service.
A source close to the agency claims that at the committee’s request, Ornato and Engel both appeared publicly and in private before the committee. Despite being recorded, those sessions weren’t used in the hearing on Tuesday.
