gentleman from California, Mr.
Aguilar, for opening statement.
Mr. Aguilar: Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
The morning of January 6,
president trump new that the
crowd was angry.
He knew that they were armed and
dangerous.
And he knew that they were going
to the capitol.
It is important to understand
the lengths the president was
willing to go to physically be
at the capitol because it was
part of his strategy to disrupt
congress and sustain power.
As a time of the rally
approached, and email was
circulated among intelligence
officials, including secret
service intelligence officials,
attaching communications among
rally Goers that specifically
contemplated violence.
Trump has given us marching
orders, one post road, basically
if you are east of the
Mississippi, you can and should
be there, advance on the
capitol.
Keep your guns hidden, don't --
around, 180 rounds minimum,
rifle, another 50 first sidearm
per person.
It is clear from this record
that the white house had more
than enough warning to warrant
stopping any plan for an ellipse
rally and certainly a plan for
stopping any March for the
capitol.
As evidenced from prior hearings
have suggested, the president
was aware of this information.
Despite awareness of the
potential for violence and
weapons among the crowd, the
ellipse event, nevertheless,
went forward, and Donald Trump
instructed the angry crowd, some
of whom were armed, to March to
the
Ebert -- secret service reported
that thousands in the crowd near
the Washington monument would
not enter the rally area because
magnetometers used screening
attendees would detect any
prohibited items.
Mr. Trump knew this.
The secret service, told them
about it that morning.
Even in spite of the warnings,
Hutchinson heard the president
say that shortly before he took
stage.
>> He was angry we were not
letting -- people with weapons,
secret service team with weapons
, and the conversation were I
overheard the president say
something to the effect of, I
don't care that they have
weapons, they are not here to
hurt me, take the f'ing guns
away, let the people in.
>> When he went on stage,
president trump himself asked
law enforcement to let his
supporters in the rally site.
Fmr. Pres. Trump: I would love
to have the tens of thousands of
people to be allowed, the
military and secret service, we
want to thank you, and the
police and law enforcement,
doing great, doing a great job,
but I would love it if they
would be allowed to come up here
with us.
Is that possible?
Capitol.
Let's pause at this point to
look at president trump's state
of mind, his motivation.
From that point, it was known to
secret service that members of
the crowd were armed.
President trump had been told
and there was no doubt the
president knew what he was going
to do, sending an angry mob, and
number of whom were clad in
tactical gear and military garb,
armed with various weapons to
the capitol.
There is no scenario where that
action is benign, and there is
no scenario where an American
president should have engaged in
that conduct.
It does not matter whether
president trump believed an
election had been stolen or not.
It could not be justified on any
basis, for any reason.
You also recall testimony from
summer hearings regarding Mr.
Trump's efforts to lead the mob
to the capitol himself.
An angry altercation in the
presidential SUV when the secret
service told him it was far too
and -- dangerous for him to go.
As we detailed in testimony from
the metropolitan police and
white house personnel during our
July 21 hearing.
Information about the
altercation was widely no.
It was explained that this was
water cooler talk in the white
house complex.
As that professional told us,
they remember hearing in the
days after January 6, how angry
the president was when he was in
a limo that afternoon.
That professional also testified
that they were specifically
informed of the president's
irate behavior in the SUV by Mr.
Or not a in -- by Mr. Ornado in
his office.
Mr. -- Others were an office,
and he expressed to me that the
president was irate, you know,
on the drive up and he did not
deny the fact that the president
was irate.
Then that corresponds closely
with the testimony you saw this
summer from Cassidy Hutchinson,
a metropolitan police officer in
a motorcade, and from multiple
sources.
Additionally, after include --
concluding its review, the
voluminous additional secret
service communications from
January 5 and January 6, the
committee will be recalling
witnesses and conducting further
investigative positions based on
that material.
Following that activity, we will
provide even greater detail in
our final report.
And I will also note this, the
committee is reviewing testimony
regarding potential obstruction
on this issue, including
testimony about advice given,
not to tell the committee about
the specific topic.
We will address this matter in
our report.
We also want to remind you now
how security professionals
working in the white house
complex and who reported to
national security officials
responded when they learned that
Mr. Trump can -- intended to
lead the mob to the capitol.
>> We were all in a state of
shock.
The president one of the
physical capability of doing it
and we all knew what that meant.
It would lead to something else
if he physically walked to the
capitol.
We all knew that this would move
from a normal democratic public
event into something else.
Why weren't we alarmed?
Leading 10,000 people to the
capitol, I think that was enough
grounds for us to be alarmed.
Mr. Aguilar: President trump was
still considering traveling to
the capitol even after returning
to the white house.
He knew well before 2:00 P.M.
That a violent riot was underway
at the capitol.
He was aware of the ongoing
lawlessness.
His motorcade was held outside
the white house because he still
wanted to join the crowd.
There is Kayleigh Mcenany, the
white house press secretary,
describing an exchange she had
with the president as soon has
he arrived back at the white
house.
>> That is my recollection.
I recall him wanting to --
saying that he wanted to
physically walk NBA part of the
March -- physically walk and the
part of the March, and then have
the presidential limo.
Mr. Aguilar: From the secret
service, the select many also
obtained important new evidence
on this issue that shows how
frantic this hour must have been
for the secret service,
scrambling to get the president
of the United States to back
down from a dangerous and
reckless decision.
Take a look at the secret
service email from 1:19 P.M. On
January 6.
The minute that president trump
got out of the presidential
vehicle back at the white house.
As soon as the president left
his motorcade, leadership from
the secret service contacted
Bobby ingle, the lead agent for
the presidential detail, and
warned him that they were
concerned about an otr, and off
the record movement, to the
capitol.
The people sworn to protect the
safety of the president of the
United States and who routinely
put themselves in harm's way
were convinced that this was a
bad idea.
Secret service documents also
reveal how agents were poised to
take president trump to the
capitol later that afternoon.
Agents were instructed to don
their protective gear and
prepare for movement.
A few minutes later, they were
told the president would lead
for the capitol in two hours.
It was not until 150 5 P.M. That
the president possible lead
secret service agent told them
to stand down.
We are not doing an otr to the
capitol.
By then, writers had breached
the capitol and were by only
attacking the efforts of the
brave men and women in law
enforcement trying to resist the
mob.
President trump may not have
gone to the capitol on January 6
him about when he did from the
white house -- but what he did
from the white house cannot be
justified.
While congressional leaders,
both Democrats and Republicans,
work with vice president pence
to try and address the violence,
president trump was refusing