At least two Secret Service agents formerly tasked with protecting 45th President Donald Trump are willing to testify to the January 6 committee that the former president did not, in fact, recklessly commandeer the presidential limo known as “The Beast”, shout “I’m the f**king president,” and attempt to drive it to the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
After the hard-to-believe tale of then-74-year-old Trump forcefully commandeering the presidential limo to join protesters in the street on January 6, 2021 was shared during the partisan January 6 committee hearings by former Trump White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson.
Now, NBC News is reporting that “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,” directly contradicting Hutchinson’s claims. It’s unknown if the partisan House committee will call them as witnesses.
🚨 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.
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) June 28, 2022
Soon after NBC’s Peter Alexander reported the claim, an executive producer for ABC News joined the reporting.
“Expect pushback against any allegation of assault against an agent or President Trump reaching for the steering wheel,” reported John Santucci.
New: Source close to the Secret Service tells @PierreTABC to expect the Secret Service to push back against any allegation of an assault against an agent or President Trump reaching for the steering wheel.
— John Santucci (@Santucci) June 28, 2022
The Washington Post, meanwhile, claims that these Secret Service officials were “yes-men” to Trump, and thus should not be trusted. It’s unclear why Trump’s “yes-men” would have refused to drive him to the U.S. Capitol, necessitating the debunked claim that he cursed and lunged for the steering wheel.
The original story put forward by Hutchinson is that Trump became irate when former vice president Mike Pence refused to object to the certification of the 2020 election results.
“I relayed to [Trump], ‘We’re not [going to the Capitol], we don’t have the assets to do it, it’s not secure, we’re going back to the West Wing,’” Hutchinson claimed yesterday before the House committee. “The President had a very strong, very angry response to that, Tony described him as being irate.”
“The President said something to the effect of ‘I’m the f-ing President, take me up to the Capitol now,’ to which Bobby responded, ‘Sir, we have to go back to the West Wing.’” Hutchinson claimed that “The president reached up to the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel.”
President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump ride in The Beast (Zach Cantanzareti Photo / Flickr)
She then claimed that the Secret Service had to pry his hands off the steering wheel.
“Mr. Engel grabbed his arm and said, ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel, we’re going back to the West Wing, we’re not going to the Capitol,’” Hutchinson claimed.
“Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge toward Bobby Engel,” Hutchinson said, claiming Trump attempted to grab the Secret Service agent by the clavicles.
It is worth noting that photographs of The Beast suggest this may be a near-superhuman strength, as the 45th president usually sat in the furthest back, passenger seat in the limo.
