A former White House adviser said Donald Trump wanted to drive to the Capitol: “I don’t care if they have the guns.”

Cassidy HutchinsonA key adviser to the White House during Donald Trump’s rule in the United States, he stated that the then president had been informed that some people surrounding the Capitol had weapons, but that he had issued a firm order to the authorities: “let my people in”.

Also, he said so tried to get behind the wheel of a limo presidential election that January 6, 2021, to join his supporters who marched on the Capitol. The woman told the House of Representatives committee of Congress that she is investigating the violent assault.

“I’m the fucking president, take me to the capital nowTrump said, according to Hutchinson, that he added that another White House official told him the story.

In a videotaped testimony played before the jury, he recalled the former president saying words like: “I don’t care if they have weapons”.

The violent event disrupted a joint session of the legislature to count the votes of the Electoral College, and certify the victory of the current president, Joe Biden, in the 2020 elections.

“I’m not here to hurt myself. Take away those damn magazines. Let my people in. They can march to Capitol Hill from here,” Hutchinson said, quoting Trump.

The plot

Hutchinson, one of the chief assistants to the then chief of staff, Marco Pratihe said it was “scared and nervous about what might happen” before the riots after talking to Trump’s lawyer, Rudi GiulianiMeadows and others.

Meadows told Hutchinson that “things could be a lot worse,” Giuliani told him it was going to be “a great day” and “let’s go to the Capitol”.

He said Meadows wasn’t worried, despite being told by security officials that people at the rally had guns, including some with automatic weapons and body armor.

Hutchinson told the jury she was concerned in advance because she had heard of plans for the march and possible trips to the Capitol, where hundreds of Trump supporters then violently pushed the police and smashed windows and doors, disrupting Joe’s certification. Biden of his victory in the presidential election.

“I had a deeper concern about what was going on with the planning aspects,” Hutchinson told the panel.

The 25-year-old had already provided a lot of information to Congressional investigators and had four closed-door interviews, but the committee called her this week to hear her public testimony.

Hutchinson’s appearance was surrounded by extraordinary secrecy. The commission announced the surprise hearing just 24 hours in advance and the appearance of the former adviser was confirmed to the AP agency only by a person with knowledge of the matter.

More than 700 defendants

Although the arrests have taken place in all corners of the country (some in the capital, Washington, and in states as far away as Minnesota, Alaska and Hawaii), all defendants whose cases go to trial will have to go through the District of Columbia, because it is the place where the events took place.

“The trial takes place where the crime took place. Now, if the defendant pleads guilty – that is, does not go to trial – and is not physically in Washington, the sentence can be handed down anywhere else in the country,” he said. Gillers. .

However, this does not appear to be the most common route among defendants, as of the more than 700 inmates to date (a figure that is likely to continue to rise in the coming months), only about 150 have agreed to plead guilty, according to Department data. of Justice of the United States.

On January 6, 2021, the House Select Committee to Investigate the Assault on the United States Capitol kicked off a historic series of hearings earlier this month, showing videos of one aide after another of the former president.

On that occasion, the panel offered new information on what it characterized as a Trump-orchestrated coup attempt that culminated in the deadly assault on Capitol Hill.

Panel leaders revealed that investigators overheard Trump’s testimony supported the hanging of his own vice president when a crowd of his supporters descended on Congress.

They also said they have evidence that Trump’s cabinet members have been discussing invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

The session kicked off an ambitious effort by the nine-member committee, formed after Republicans blocked the creation of a non-partisan commission, to expose the entire story of a notable assault on American democracy, orchestrated by a president. in charge. it led to a deadly revolt, an impeachment process and a crisis of confidence in the political system.

He presented evidence of the pressure exerted by the former president to have his deputy Mike pence canceled the 2020 election that those pressures were thwarted and that is why a violent Trump-fueled crowd stormed Congress.

Lawmakers detailed the intense lobbying campaign that Trump and the conservative lawyer John Eastman (who advised the president after losing the election) took action against Pence to try to get him to cancel the election, which the jury said directly contributed to the violent assault on Congress.

With information from agencies

DB