Following shocking testimony from the Jan. 6 House select committee hearing regarding former President Donald Trump's alleged actions as the Capitol was under attack, at least two Secret Service agents are willing to offer a different account of what unfolded that day.
Tuesday's hearing featured jaw-dropping revelations from former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Mark Meadows while he was Trump's White House chief of staff.
Hutchinson testified that Trump became irate when he was informed he could not go to the Capitol where armed and potentially violent mob of supporters were answering his call to help overthrow the 2020 election.
Trump said something to the effect of "I'm the f-ing president, take me up to the Capitol now," Hutchinson testified. The former president then allegedly lunged forward and grabbed the steering wheel of his armored SUV in an attempt to turn the vehicle around before he was forced off. Trump also allegedly grabbed security advisor Robert Engel by the throat during the incident, Hutchinson said.
The Secret Service was not contacted by the committee about Hutchinson's allegations prior to her testimony, Politico reported. But that won't stop the agents from trying to have their voices heard.
A source close to the Secret Service confirmed to CBS News that Engel and the driver are both prepared to testify that there's no truth to Hutchinson's allegations.
"The United States Secret Service has been cooperating with the Select Committee since its inception in spring 2021, and will continue to do so, including by responding on the record to the Committee regarding the new allegations surfaced in [Tuesday's] testimony," Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi told the network.
Peter Alexander, chief White House correspondent for NBC News, also tweeted that the agents are willing to testify against the allegations.
"A source close to the Secret Service tells me both Bobby Engel, the lead agent, and the presidential limousine/SUV driver are prepared to testify under oath that neither man was assaulted and that Mr. Trump never lunged for the steering wheel," he said.
Trump himself has also disputed Hutchinson's account, posting about it first on his social media platform, Truth Social.
"Her fake story that I tried to grab the steering wheel of the White House Limousine in order to steer it to the Capitol Building is 'sick' and fraudulent, very much like the Unselect Committee itself — wouldn't even have been possible to do such a ridiculous thing," Trump wrote, according to Mashable.
The former president also denied the allegations in an interview with conservative news outlet Newsmax, according to The Hill.
"She said I jumped from a car and started strangling — think of this — started strangling a Secret Service agent who I know very well," Trump said. "Who would do that? I would grab a Secret Service person by the throat?"
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