The sixth hearing of the House Select committee on Tuesday heard testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, who stated that former President Donald Trump and his chief of staff Mark Meadows were aware that Trump supporters were capable of resorting to violence on January 6, 2021, and possessed several weapons when they assembled in Washington D.C.’s Ellipse park that day.

Hutchinson also testified that Anthony Ornato, a White House official, stated that he had a conversation with Trump regarding the weapons at the rally on January 6, 2021. 

The Jan 6 committee learned that people at the rally had knives, tasers, pepper spray, brass knuckles, and other makeshift weapons, vice-chair Liz Cheney revealed on Tuesday.

Hutchinson confirmed that people knew about this in the White House on the morning of January 6, and she even saw Ornato and Meadows having a conversation about the weapons. 

The committee also displayed a video clip of Hutchinson’s previous testimony, in which she said that Ornato told Meadows about the weapons and said, “these f*ing people are fastening spears onto the ends of flagpoles.”

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However, Meadows was busy scrolling through his phone and didn’t seem to pay much attention to what was being said.

“Meadows was scrolling through his phone; I remember leaning against the doorway and saying, ‘I just had an interesting conversation with Rudy, Mark. It sounds like we’re going to go to the Capitol.’ He didn’t look up from his phone and said something to the effect of ‘there’s a lot going on, Cass, but I don’t know, things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6,” she told the committee on Tuesday.

Also Read: Jan 6 hearings: What Cassidy Hutchinson has told the House committee so far

Meadows then questioned Ornato, “Have you talked to the President?” Hutchinson recalled. She added that Ornato had said that he had informed Trump.

Following her testimony, the House committee played recordings of radio traffic from police officials who had identified that firearms were being carried near the Ellipse on the day of the Capitol riots.