Trump wanted to go with Mob on January 6th

The storming of the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021 was not an accidental event born of a chaotic moment. The march to the American Congress had already been hotly debated in the White House days earlier. President Donald Trump knew that his supporters also carried knives, pistols, and rifles. Still, he urged his bodyguard to let him run to the Capitol with the mob. A late January 6 hearing of the Commission of Inquiry revealed all this shattering news on Tuesday afternoon.

The information is based largely on the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, who worked as a White House assistant to Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows. Her desk was between the offices of Chief of Staff and Vice President Mike Pence. It was also just a few steps to the President’s Oval Office. Hutchinson heard almost everything that was happening in the American power center in those days. On January 2, 2021, for example, she accompanied Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani to the car after an evening meeting with Meadows. That’s when the talkative Giuliani revealed the plan for January 6: “We’re going to the Capitol. It is going to be great.” Hutchinson confronted her supervisor, Meadows, with the information. He said: “Things could come out really, really bad on January 6th.”

Trump’s advisor feared prosecution

Pat Cipollone, the President’s White House Counsel, also knew of the plans to march to the Capitol. On January 3, he sought a conversation with Hutchinson. He is said to have told her: “We have to prevent this. We have serious legal concerns.” Cipollone was therefore convinced that Meadows, together with Trump, were the driving forces behind the plan. On the morning of January 6, Cipollone spoke to Hutchinson again and warned against a march to the Capitol: “We will be charged with every crime imaginable if this happens.” Among other things, Cipollone expected prosecution for obstruction of justice, fraudulent vote counting or inciting riots.

Trump knew his plan was illegal, and he also knew that his supporters were armed with knives, pepper spray, pistols and even assault rifles. Hutchinson rode in the President’s convoy on January 6 to the demonstration near the White House. The then president was furious before his performance because the crowd in front of the stage seemed too small to him. The police checked the participants with metal detectors. As a result, many protesters watched the scene from further away, not wanting their guns confiscated. At that moment, Trump reportedly said: “I don’t care if they have guns. You are not here to hurt me. let my people in Take away the damn metal detectors.”

In his speech, Trump called on his supporters to to march to the Capitol. “And I will come with you.” Meadows attempted that prompt downplaying the President’s memoirs. They weren’t meant literally. But according to Hutchinson, Trump really wanted to march to the Capitol to prevent the congressmen and senators assembled there from certifying his election defeat. But since it was already clear that the situation before Congress would get out of control, the security service considered this too dangerous. According to Hutchinson, after the president had already climbed into his limousine, there was a scuffle while driving. Trump tried to grab the wheel and said, “I’m the damn president, take me to the Capitol.”

Trump looks on at the violence he has unleashed

Shortly after the protesters overwhelmed the security forces in front of the convention building, Cipollone stormed into Meadow’s office. “The rioters have reached the Capitol, Mark, we have to go down to see the President,” Cipollone reportedly said. But Meadows simply replied: “He doesn’t want to do anything, Pat.” Cipollone said, “Mark, something has to be done or people will die and there will be blood on our hands. It’s getting out of control. I’m going down.”

After Meadows and Cipollone spoke with Trump in his White House dining room, Hutchinson overheard another conversation between the two. “We have to do more,” Cipollone is said to have said to Meadows. At this point, the demonstrators in front of the Capitol were already chanting “Hang Mike Pence”. In his speech on January 6, Trump urged his vice president not to certify the election result and turn it in his favor as the chair of a congressional session. But Pence didn’t play along, much to the president’s chagrin. And now Trump unleashed an angry mob. Meadows apparently saw no way to reason with the President. After the conversation with Trump, he is said to have replied to Cipollone: ​​“You heard him, Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn’t think they’re doing anything wrong.”

Despite it Meadows instructed his assistant at three o’clock in the afternoon apparently to write a draft statement for the President. “Any person who has entered the Capitol illegally or without proper authorization should exit immediately,” the text said. But the statement was never made public. Meadows later returned the handwritten note, with the word “illegal” crossed out. It was not until 4:17 a.m. that the President addressed in a video to his followers: «The election was stolen. Everyone knows that. But you must go home now. We don’t want anyone to get hurt. We love you.”

A total of nine people died in connection with the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Several police officers then took their own lives. Around 150 security forces were injured in total. The sixth hearing of the parliamentary commission of inquiry on Tuesday also makes it clear that Trump bears a great deal of responsibility for the bloody events. Further hearings are planned for the coming weeks. Ultimately, it is up to the Justice Department to decide whether Trump should go to court. However, it already seems clear that if Trump is not held accountable, this will set a dangerous and corrosive precedent for American democracy.