Lead Secret Service Agent Will Testify Trump Did Not Try to Commandeer Car on January 6

Lead Secret Service Agent Will Testify Trump Did Not Try to Commandeer Car on January 6

Via Breitbart:

The lead Secret Service agent in charge of President Trump’s detail on January 6 will reportedly testify that the former president did not try to commandeer his suburban during the riots, thereby contradicting testimony from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson on Tuesday.

News of the testimony broke on Twitter from Peter Alexander of NBC News, the furthest thing from a Trump ally, who said that a source close to the Secret Service said that agent Bobby Engel will testify.

“A source close to the Secret Service tells me both Bobby Engel, the lead agent, and the presidential limousine/SUV driver are prepared to testify under oath that neither man was assaulted and that Mr. Trump never lunged for the steering wheel,” he tweeted.

🚨 A source close to the Secret Service tells me both Bobby Engel, the lead agent, and the presidential limousine/SUV driver are prepared to testify under oath that neither man was assaulted and that Mr. Trump never lunged for the steering wheel.

— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) June 28, 2022

Should the report prove accurate and Bobby Engel’s testimony hold up, it will be a huge blow to the January 6 committee, whose Tuesday star witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, testified that former President Trump literally tried to commandeer the presidential suburban during the January 6 riot and became borderline violent when Bobby Engel tried to stop him. Hutchinson said she learned of the story from Tony Ornato, the White House deputy chief of staff.

“I noticed the head of Mr. Trump’s security detail sitting in a chair, looking somewhat discombobulated, a little lost,” Hutchinson testified. “I looked at Tony, he said, ‘Did you effing hear what happened in the Beast?’ I said, ‘No, Tony, I just got back, what happened?’ Hutchinson continued:

Tony proceeded to tell me that when the president got in the Beast, he was under the impression from Mr. Meadows that the off-the-record movement to the Capitol was still possible and likely to happen but that Bobby had more information. As the president had gotten into the vehicle with Bobby, he thought that they were going up to the Capitol. And when Bobby had relayed to him that we’re not; we don’t have the assets to do it; it’s not secure; we’re going back to the West Wing, the president had a very strong, very angry response to that.

Hutchinson further testified that Trump “said something to the effect of, ‘I’m the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now.’”

When Bobby Engel allegedly told Trump that they would be going back to the West Wing, Hutchinson said the former president became borderline violent. Hutchinson said:

The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm, said, ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel, we’re going back to the West Wing, we’re not going to the Capitol.’ Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel.

News of Bobby Engel’s testimony will come after January 6 Committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said on CNN that Hutchinson’s statements were essentially a smoking gun:

CNN’s @jaketapper asks @RepRaskin about corroborating the shocking story, told by ex-aide of Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, about Trump’s physical attack on Secret Service detail to drive to the US Capitol on January 6. pic.twitter.com/z2ul9WvFcc

— CNN (@CNN) June 28, 2022