
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a rally on the Ellipse on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, near the White House in Washington, D.C., shortly before his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. - Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS
A former White House aide revealed that Donald Trump knew his supporters were armed on Jan. 6, 2021, but he wanted them let into his rally anyway and then sent on to the U.S. Capitol.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, told the House Select Committee that Trump was aware some of his supporters were carrying weapons before his speech at the Ellipse, but he was "furious" that some of them were shut out by the Secret Service and wanted metal detectors removed because he didn't think they were there to hurt him.
He then wanted them sent to march on the U.S. Capitol.
\u201cSo it starts and ends with crowd size \u2026\u201d— Mika Brzezinski (@Mika Brzezinski) 1656437598
\u201cWould be incredible if Trump\u2019s obsession with crowd size, the first act of his administration, is the thing that brings him down.\u201d— southpaw (@southpaw) 1656437828
\u201cOh my God.\n\nThere are text messages that Trump was furious at the view not showing the crowd size, after he was told about the weapons.\u201d— Elizabeth H.C. McLaughlin (she/her) (@Elizabeth H.C. McLaughlin (she/her)) 1656437588
\u201cHe ordered a hit.\u201d— Rick Perlstein (@Rick Perlstein) 1656437996
\u201cCassidy Hutchinson just testified that Donald Trump was upset that people carrying weapons were not allowed into the March area because he wanted a bigger crowd, saying the rioters weren\u2019t there to hurt HIM.\u201d— Shannon Watts (@Shannon Watts) 1656438467
\u201cHeh. From start to end it's about crowd size.\u201d— Jeff Jarvis (@Jeff Jarvis) 1656437640
\u201cTrump\u2019s only concern on J6, after being told about the weapons and potentials for violence, was the size of his crowd.\n\nHe did nothing. Trump, at the ellipse: \u201cLet my people in. Take the f*ing mags away. They aren\u2019t here to hurt me. They can march from the Capitol from here.\u201d\u201d— Heath Mayo (@Heath Mayo) 1656437694
\u201cI\u2019m not a lawyer but it sure seems to me that this testimony reveals that Giuliani, Meadows, and Trump were aware in advance that the 1/6 protests at the Capitol were going to be violent. Sounds kinda illegal.\u201d— Daniel W. Drezner (@Daniel W. Drezner) 1656438095