Trump Did Not Lunge For Limo Steering Wheel On Jan 6, Witnesses Tell Inspector General

Former President Donald Trump did not attempt to grab the steering wheel of a presidential limousine on Jan. 6, as was suggested by a star witness of the Jan. 6 Committee, according to witnesses interviewed by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified to the Jan. 6 Committee in 2022 that she heard from presidential security official Tony Ornato that Trump had lunged for the wheel of “the Beast” after being informed that he was going back to the White House rather than to the Capitol on that day. However, witnesses who were inside the vehicle and interviewed for a DHS OIG report examining the Secret Service’s response to Jan. 6 said that Trump made no such move.

“We also interviewed Secret Service agents in the limousine with the President. The limousine driver said that the President was angry when his request to go to the Capitol was denied, whereas the President’s detail lead, who was seated in front of the President, said he did not recall if the President was angry,” reads a footnote in the report. “We asked agents whether the President reached for the steering wheel or lunged toward the detail lead when his request to go to the Capitol was denied, and witnesses said those actions did not occur.”

The DHS OIG report states that office investigators did not interview Hutchinson for the report because her testimonyregarding what happened inside “the Beast” was already part of the public record. Additionally, the report notes that the Ornato wrote to the OIG, saying that “I do not recall being made aware of any details about the President’s return trip to the White House and, as such, I do not recall speaking with anyone about it.”