Introduction:
Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2 ... anuary-6/In a sense, Secret Service agent Bobby Engel spoke for most Americans when he reportedly told President Donald Trump, on January 6, 2021: “Take your hand off the steering wheel.”
That of course is according to the show-stopping, “holy-shit” testimony on Tuesday by Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Hutchinson described an account shared with her by Anthony Ornato, Trump’s chief of operations. He described it in the presence of Engel, who did not dispute it, Hutchinson said.
Trump wanted to get to the Capitol and join the insurrectionists, many armed, who he had just incited with lies about election fraud. But Engel, who headed the security detail in Trump’s armored limousine, known as “the Beast,” told Trump he could not, due to security concerns, according to Hutchinson’s account. Enraged, Trump declared “I’m the f-ing president,” Hutchinson said, and “reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel.” Engel told him: ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We’re going back to the West Wing.”
The President of the United States, in Hutchinson’s account, then “used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel.” Ornato, Hutchinson said, indicated to her that Trump went for Engel’s throat.
Several media outlets reported Tuesday night that Engel and the driver of Trump’s vehicle deny that Trump had reached for the wheel or assaulted either man, though they reportedly do not dispute that Trump demanded to be driven to the Capitol. Some outlets, citing unnamed sources, also reported that Ornato denied Hutchinson’s account. Trump on Tuesday denied Hutchinson’s account, as well as her testimony that she knew of Trump “throwing dishes or flipping the tablecloth and letting all the contents of the table go onto the floor” on various occasions. In a series of social media posts, he also disputed other aspects of her testimony.
caltrek’s comment: Of course, Trump’s credibility is zero. Still, some of the details about whether Trump actually grabbed for the steering wheel and assaulted the Secret Service agent are disputed by more than just Trump. The overriding point that Trump did want to be driven to the Capital does not seem to be in dispute (except perhaps by Trump depending on his mood of the day).