Trump admits he wanted to join the assault on the Capitol

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said that in January 2021 he wanted to join the crowd that stormed the Capitol.

This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to The Hill.

On Wednesday, May 1, Trump confirmed that he had told Secret Service agents he wanted to come to the Capitol building on January 6, 2021, and ridiculed claims that after refusing, he lashed out at officers in his car.

Speaking to supporters in Wisconsin, Trump complained at length about his own court cases before launching into an attack on lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.

"Remember the person who said I assaulted a Secret Service agent in front of a car? That's none of my business. I'm a lover, not a fighter. Remember that? And these are tough guys. You know these Secret Service guys, I hate to admit it, they're a little younger than me. Quite a bit," Trump told his supporters.

He went on to mock the testimony of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. She told a congressional panel that she was investigating the events of that day and had heard from others that Trump “jumped” at the steering wheel after his speech outside the White House, apparently in an attempt to turn the Capitol.

"It's crazy. I was sitting in the back, and you know what I said, I said, 'I'd like to go down there because I see a lot of people going down.' They said, 'Sir, it would be better if you don't.' I said, 'Well, I'd like to ... whatever you guys think.' That was the whole conversation. These people are crazy," Trump said.

Hutchinson's exculpatory testimony before the now-dissolved committee on January 6, 2022, raised new questions about Trump's actions and his efforts to join supporters marching on the Capitol.

The driver of Trump's car denied testimony on January 6 that Trump tried to take control of the car.

"(President Trump. - ed.) never grabbed the steering wheel. I never saw him try to get into the front seat at all," the unnamed driver told the investigative committee.

However, a copy seen by The New York Times indicates that the driver confirmed Hutchinson's insistence that Trump join supporters at the Capitol. He made a demand to the driver, as well as former President Trump's head of security, Bobby Engel.

"The president insisted on a trip to the Capitol," said the driver, whose name has not been released.

The publication notes that Trump's actions on January 6, 2021, during the storming of the Capitol, became the central theme of President Joe Biden's re-election campaign. And they became the basis of the federal charges brought against Trump in Washington.

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 02/05/2024