A Washington, D.C., police officer has reportedly confirmed reports that former President Donald Trump got into a physical altercation with Secret Service agents on Jan. 6 as he sought to go to the Capitol to lead the violent insurrection by his supporters.
The officer who was in the Trump motorcade has given his own account to the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, CNN reported.
The police account broadly corroborates the story told by White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified under oath that fellow aides told her Trump angrily demanded to be taken to the Capitol and got physical with Secret Service agents when they refused his request.
The committee also hopes to talk to the driver of the limo, who would be another key witness to the episode, the network said.
The officials in question, lead agent Richard Engels and then-deputy White House chief of staff Tony Ornato, shared details of the incident just minutes after it happened, Hutchinson testified.
But the Secret Service later asserted that they were prepared to deny that account under oath. They have not yet done so, and it’s not clear if they ever will do so, giving the committee little reason to doubt Hutchinson’s story, especially as other witnesses back it up.
Meanwhile, a new report says the Secret Service accidentally deleted text messages from Jan. 6 after a Department of Homeland Services watchdog asked it to preserve all records.
The Secret Service claims it unintentionally deleted the messages, which could obviously shed light on Trump’s role in the insurrection, as part of a routine “device replacement” exercise, The Intercept first reported.
The deleted messages could potentially have shed light on the Trump incident as well as other crucial elements of the story of Jan. 6 such as former Vice President Mike Pence’s refusal to get into a Secret Service vehicle as the riot unfolded for fear of being driven away from the Capitol.
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