\n\n“As Hutchinson related it in a June public hearing, Trump became enraged when agents tried to take him back to the White House and not to the Capitol. \u201cI\u2019m the f-ing president, take me up to the Capitol now,\u201d Trump reportedly exclaimed before reaching for the steering wheel of the Secret Service vehicle. He then \u201clunged at [the] clavicle\u201d of an agent trying to restrain him, Hutchinson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Immediately after her testimony, anonymous Secret Service agents told several outlets that Ornato and Engel are prepared to deny that this happened, but neither has testified about it under oath. In its most recent hearing, the committee said other anonymous sources had corroborated what Hutchinson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Visibility into the text messages between agents would confirm what happened and could further prove Trump\u2019s intent to join the crowd at the Capitol in its effort to halt the certification of the 2020 presidential election. They also might offer more details on what Trump was doing during the attack. The committee established in its July 22 hearing<\/a> that Trump spent most of the time during the attack watching Fox News and lobbying senators to back his efforts to overturn the 2020 elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, they could clarify what was happening around Vice President Mike Pence that day. The hearing displayed audio transcripts of Secret Service agents at the Capitol who worried that Pence might not be able to escape to a secure location in the Capitol, and one anonymous security official testified that members of Pence\u2019s detail were so concerned that they called family members to say goodbye in case they did not survive. Afterward, when Pence fled, he refused the requests of agents to get into a car because he didn\u2019t trust them not to drive away and evacuate him from the Capitol. Pence, who thought it was important for the country to proceed with finishing the task Congress started that day, didn\u2019t want to prevent the election\u2019s certification if he couldn\u2019t return to the Capitol that night, as the Washington Post\u2019s Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker reported in their book I Alone Can Fix It<\/em><\/a>. Pence told Tim Giebels, the head of his detail<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019m not getting in the car, Tim. I trust you, Tim, but you\u2019re not driving the car. If I get in that vehicle, you guys are taking off. I\u2019m not getting in the car.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, Ornato told Keith Kellogg, Pence\u2019s national security adviser, that there were plans to move the vice president to Andrews Air Force Base. Kellogg replied, according to the Post<\/a>, \u201cYou can\u2019t do that, Tony. Leave him where he\u2019s at. He\u2019s got a job to do. I know you guys too well. You\u2019ll fly him to Alaska if you have a chance. Don\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The missing text messages might reveal more details about this as well, but it is unclear if we will ever see them. The Secret Service says it\u2019s unlikely<\/a> they can be recovered. We may, though, learn more over the course of the criminal investigation about who erased them and why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the meantime, committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) told reporters<\/a> afterthe July 22 hearing that both Ornato and Engel have retained private lawyers.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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