The House select committee investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol was expected to take a hiatus until the week of July 11. But yesterday, the committee announced a surprise Tuesday hearing “to present recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony.” If you were expecting a bombshell today, you got one.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former-top aide for White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified that then-president Donald Trump wasn’t worried about weapons in the crowd on January 6 because “they’re not here to hurt me.”
In a pre-recorded video, Hutchinson said, “I was in the vicinity of a conversation where I overheard the president say something to the effect of, ‘I don’t f*cking care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the f*cking mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in. Take the f*cking mags away.’” Magnetometers, or “mags,” are used by the Secret Service to detect weapons.
You can watch Hutchinson’s testimony below.
Trump was furious the Secret Service was screening people at his rally for weapons.
“They’re not here to hurt me. Take the F’ing mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here.” pic.twitter.com/YEQGkbjuiM
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 28, 2022
Trump was also overly (and consistently) concerned about the size of the crowd.
Hutchinson told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots that Trump was “furious” that the Ellipse near the White House had not filled up to capacity for a rally on the morning of the Electoral College certification.
“Trump Knew” started trending after Hutchinson’s testimony was made public.
Donald Trump knew that the people in the J6 crowd were armed, but ordered the Secret Service to “take the fucking mags away” and let them in.
— Ron Filipkowski
(@RonFilipkowski) June 28, 2022
Trump KNEW he lost in November 2020.
Trump KNEW there was no election fraud.
Trump KNEW there would be violence on 1/6.
Trump KNEW the rioters were armed & dangerous.
Trump KNEW these armed rioters would march on the Capitol.#TrumpKNEW— Katie S. Phang (@KatiePhang) June 28, 2022
So Trump knew the crowd was armed, used language in his speech his attorneys thought would result in criminal charges, and attacked a Secret Service agent when he couldn’t personally lead the attack on the Capitol. That is pretty damning.
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) June 28, 2022
Trump KNEW. Lock him the hell up right now.
— Occupy Democrats (@OccupyDemocrats) June 28, 2022
So Trump knew people had weapons on Jan. 6 and that they were going to march to the Capitol and that they were not there to hurt him.
That’s … bad.
— Philip Bump (@pbump) June 28, 2022
Donald Trump knew that his mob was armed and dangerous, but he didn’t care because – as he said – “they’re not here to hurt me.”
He knowingly incited a mob of extremists armed with AR-15s to storm the Capitol. This is the biggest scandal in American history. https://t.co/jU3s0Ds5Ny
— Jewish Dems (@USJewishDems) June 28, 2022
Trump knew they had weapons. He did not want them to be disarmed. He wanted them armed to march to the Capitol.
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) June 28, 2022
(Via The Hill)