Trump Asked Secret Service To Take Him To Capitol On Jan. 6 Before Riot

Former President Donald Trump asked the head of his Secret Service detail, Robert Engel, if he could join his supporters at the Capitol following the “Stop the Steal” rally, according to Engel’s testimony with the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack.

Trump supporters gathered at the Capitol to protest the certification of President Joe Biden‘s win. According to Engel, Trump continued to voice his desire to be there even after the protest turned violent.

Secret Service agents began looking into whether or not they could safely transport Trump to the Capitol after the ex-President made foreshadowing remarks at the rally, “We’re going to the Capitol. We’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”

Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who has been unwilling to cooperate with the committee, had a different take on Trump’s request to join the protestors at the Capitol. In his book, The Chief’s Chief, he said that the requests had been metaphorical and that Trump knew that making a trip to the Capitol on short notice would be unfeasible. Despite lawmakers voting to refer Meadows to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress, the Justice Department announced that they would not prosecute him.

The committee held its first public hearing on Thursday.