Former President Donald Trump did not care that his supporters at the January 6, 2021 rally, which preceded the attack on the United States Capitol, were armed, including with AR-15-type rifles, according to the report. testimony on Tuesday (28) of a White House aide at the time, Cassidy Hutchinson.
Instead, Hutchinson said, Trump expressed anger that the Secret Service, charged with protecting the president, was using magnetometers to keep armed people out of the fenced off area where he gave a fiery speech in which he repeated his false claims that his defeat in the 2020 election was a result of fraud.
Trump reportedly said “take away the magazines, they’re not here to hurt me,” according to Hutchinson.
The testimony of the adviser to Mark Meadows, then Trump’s chief of staff, was given to the House of Representatives committee investigating January 6.
Still according to her, senior congressional officials, including the president himself, were warned that the rally could get out of control. Despite being told there were armed supporters, Trump wanted the metal detectors removed before the mob stormed the Capitol.
Tuesday’s hearing, hastily called on Monday, marks the first time a month that a White House official has testified. This is the sixth session in June.
The House of Representatives committee has been investigating the first attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in US history for more than a year.
