The driver of former President Trump’s car on Jan. 6 disputed bombshell testimony that he tried to take control of the car, even as the witness affirmed the former president’s insistence in joining his supporters at the Capitol.
The detail, released as part of a broader report from House Republicans that minimizes Trump’s role in the destruction that day, takes aim at star witness Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony before the now-disbanded Jan. 6 committee.
Hutchinson told the public she heard Trump had “lunged” for the steering wheel following his speech near the White House in an apparent effort to veer toward the Capitol, a story that was relayed to her by others.
“[President Trump] never grabbed the steering wheel. I didn’t see him, you know, lunge to try to get into the front seat at all,” the unnamed driver told the committee’s investigators.
A subcommittee on the House Committee of Administration, which drafted the report, did not release the full transcript with the driver, which has been requested by The Hill.
A copy reviewed by
The New York Times, however, indicates the driver backed Hutchinson’s details about Trump’s insistence on joining supporters at the Capitol, making the demand to the driver as well as Bobby Engel, the head of former President Trump’s security detail on Jan. 6.
“The president was insistent on going to the Capitol,” recounted the driver, whose name was not disclosed.
“It was clear to me he wanted to go to the Capitol. He was not screaming at Mr. Engel. He was not screaming at me. Certainly his voice was raised, but it did not seem to me that he was irate — certainly not, certainly didn’t seem as irritated or agitated as he had on the way to the Ellipse,” the driver said, according to the transcript reviewed by the Times.
thehill.com
