The alleged altercation took place when Mr Trump’s security refused to take him to the Capitol. Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified to the House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6 during a hearing Tuesday that Trump still believed he was going to Capitol Hill when he left that rally. the day. Ms. Hutchinson told the panel that she was told Trump cursed his Secret Service agents after they told him he would be returning to the White House instead of Capitol Hill. The former top aide also shared that she was told that Trump physically attacked Robert Engel, the head of Trump’s security team. She said she was later told Trump had also tried to grab the wheel. “The president had a very strong, very angry response to this,” Ms Hutchinson said on Tuesday. He added that then-Deputy White House Chief of Staff “Tony [Ornato] described him as angry. The President said something to the effect of: “I am the president of the couple! Take me to the Capitol now.’ “To which Bobby replied, ‘Sir, we have to go back to the West Wing,’” Ms Hutchinson said. “The president raised the front of the vehicle to grab the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his hand, said, “Sir, you have to take your hand off the wheel. We return to the West Wing. We’re not going to the Capitol,” he added. “Mr. Trump used his free hand to lunge at Bobby Engel, and when Mr. Ornato told me the story, he gestured toward his collarbones,” she said. Since her testimony, Mr. Trump and his allies have said that several sources claim that this version of events will be contradicted to some extent when Mr. Engel and Mr. Ornato testify under oath — as reports suggest. Filmmaker Jack Bryan tweeted an image Thursday afternoon that he said shows Trump grabbing the wheel. “It looks like he may have grabbed the steering wheel to stop them from leaving, which makes more sense than grabbing it to run them off the road,” Brian added. “At least Trump is moving his hand over the driver’s shoulder. I’m not sure why else he would do that.” Several people, including former Republican general Rick Wilson, have compared the footage to that of Abraham Zapruder, who captured the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy while making a home movie. Republican strategist Liz Mair tweeted: “Someone should produce better images [than] that looks like a bunch of drops to me.”
