Secret Service attempted last-minute effort to set up Trump motorcade after he promised to join supporters at Capitol

Secret Service agents scrambled to set up a motorcade route on Jan. 6, 2021, after former President Donald Trump promised to join his supporters on a march to the U.S. Capitol.

Two witnesses told the House select committee that Secret Service agents contacted D.C. police about blocking intersections on the route after Trump told supporters during his "Stop the Steal" rally that he would walk with them, but his detail leader determined the plan was impossible to pull off safely, reported the Washington Post.

“On January 6, the Secret Service did not secure a motorcade route for President Trump to travel to the Capitol after the Ellipse rally,” spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. “Secret Service personnel assigned to the President’s detail told Administration officials that proposed travel plans to visit the Capitol on January 6th would not be feasible.”

The former president has said his pledge was blocked by the Secret Service, but two individuals with knowledge of witness testimony said Trump had insisted on going to the Capitol and the Secret Service took steps toward taking him there just before the violence erupted.

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The agency had pushed back against his plan to go there, but agents hurriedly tried to put a plan in place after they heard him urge nearly 30,000 supporters to march to the Capitol to pressure "weak" Republicans to refuse to certify Joe Biden's election win, and a D.C. official confirmed the Secret Service had contacted police to help set up a presidential motorcade.

“We were asked, and the response was no,” said Dora Taylor-Lowe, a spokeswoman for the D.C. deputy mayor that oversees the police department.

The newly revealed testimony shows Trump had intended to march with supporters and indicates that he tried to enlist the civil service agency into his effort to overturn his election loss.