Anyone still defending this asshole? To be clear, said asshole is Donald Trump.White House Official: Pence’s Security Detail Feared For Lives
By Andrew Restuccia and Lindsay Wise
SHARE
An unnamed White House security official described harrowing radio messages from Vice President Mike Pence’s security detail, asserting that some of the members of the detail feared for their own lives as the mob entered the Capitol.
“I don’t like talking about it,” the official, whose voice was distorted to protect the person’s identity, said in a recorded clip played at the hearing, adding that Mr. Pence’s detail “thought it was about to get very ugly…It was just chaos.”
The official said the agents came very close to having to use lethal force “or worse,” and added that some of the members of Mr. Pence’s security detail radioed in goodbyes to their family members.
Earlier, there was a revelation that seems to corroborate Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony:
Rep. Elaine Luria (D., Va.), a member of the committee, said the panel has heard from two witnesses who said that there was a heated exchange between then-President Donald Trump and the Secret Service about going to the U.S. Capitol following Mr. Trump’s speech at the Ellipse.
One of the witnesses was an unnamed former White House official with national security responsibilities, Ms. Luria said.
Retired Sergeant Mark Robinson of the D.C. Metropolitan Police said that the Secret Service agent responsible for the motorcade indicated that the president was upset. The agent “was saying that there was a heated argument or discussion about going to the Capitol,” said Mr. Robinson, who was assigned to the motorcade.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a onetime top aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified last month that she was told that Mr. Trump wanted to be driven to the Capitol and wrestled for the steering wheel with the Secret Service when his order was refused.
Ms. Hutchinson said her testimony about the ride in the presidential vehicle was based on an account from Tony Ornato, former White House deputy chief of staff, told to her in the presence of Mr. Engel. Mr. Ornato is listed on the Secret Service’s website as the assistant director of the Office of Training. A person close to the Secret Service said Mr. Ornato denied telling Ms. Hutchinson that Mr. Trump lunged at the steering wheel or assaulted an agent
The committee also played audio of an unnamed White House national security official who described shock about Mr. Trump’s desire to accompany the crowd to the Capitol. “I don’t know if you want to use the word ‘insurrection,’ ‘coup,’ whatever. We all knew that this would move from a normal democratic, you know, public event into something else,” the unnamed official said.
Mr. Trump has denied any wrongdoing related to the riot and called the hearings a partisan exercise.
Ms. Luria also said the committee has learned that some Secret Service witnesses have retained private counsel. “We anticipate further testimony under oath and other new information in the coming weeks,” she said.
