Secret Service sources reportedly bolster Hutchinsons testimony

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There was no shortage of critically important revelations from Cassidy Hutchinsons testimony this week before the Jan. 6 committee. The former White House aide shed light, for example, on Donald Trump wanting to get rid of metal detectors so that armed supporters could hear him lie before they went to Capitol Hill. Just as importantly, the Republican was desperate to join the mob at his remarks.

Hutchinson similarly testified about Trump telling his team that then-Vice President Mike Pence deserved to be hunted by rioters, the warnings Trump received about the prospect of violence. We also learned about cabinet secretaries considering removing the then-president from office, requested pardons, possible witness tampering, and thrown ketchup on a White House wall.

But there was another part of this weeks hearing that wasnt nearly as substantive or as legally significant, but which generated plenty of conversation: Hutchinson described a scene, which had been described to her by Tony Ornato, of Trump going a little berserk after his Secret Service agents told him he was back to the White House after his speech at the Ellipse, not to the Capitol.

While the right has targeted this story in recent days, CNN published a report this afternoon, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, that appeared to bolster the revelations from Tuesdays hearing.

Then-President Donald Trump angrily demanded to go to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and berated his protective detail when he didnt get his way, according to two Secret Service sources who say they heard about the incident from multiple agents, including the driver of the presidential SUV where it occurred.

In case anyone needs a refresher, after he riled up his mob with lies, the then-president returned to his vehicle, where things reportedly got weird.

According to the version events that had been described to Hutchinson, Trump got into the backseat of a presidential suburban and said, Im the fing president, take me up to the Capitol now. When that didnt happen, again according to the version events that had been described to Hutchinson, Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of the Suburban he was riding in.

According to the former White House staffers understanding, Trump also reached toward the throat of Secret Service agent Robert Engel during the incident.

The former president has subsequently insisted that there was no such skirmish, but CNNs sources said stories about the incident including the details Hutchinson described in her sworn testimony circulated among Secret Service agents early last year. From the networks report:

While the details from those who heard the accounts differ, the Secret Service sources say they were told an angry confrontation did occur. And their accounts align with significant parts of Hutchinsons testimony, which has been attacked as hearsay by Trump and his allies who also have tried to discredit her overall testimony. Like Hutchinson, one source, a longtime Secret Service employee, told CNN that the agents relaying the story described Trump as demanding and that the former President said something similar to: Im the f ** king President of the United States, you cant tell me what to do. The source said he originally heard that kind of language was used shortly after the incident.

One of CNNs sources said, in reference to Trump, He had sort of lunged forward – it was unclear from the conversations I had that he actually made physical contact, but he might have. I dont know. Nobody said Trump assaulted him; they said he tried to lunge over the seat for what reason, nobody had any idea.

CNNs report added that the same unnamed source said hed heard about the incident multiple times as far back as February 2021 from other agents, including some who were part of the presidential protective detail during that time period but none of whom were involved in the incident.

It would appear that the rights desperate efforts to undermine Hutchinsons credibility have just suffered another blow.

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics.”

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