On day 9 of the January 6 hearing, Rep. Pete Aguilar, who is a part of the committee, said that former President Donald Trump was well aware of the fact that among the people he had urged to storm the Capitol, there were people who were armed and wearing military gear.
Aguilar’s comments were: “And there is no doubt that President Trump knew what he was doing, sending an angry mob, a number of whom were clad in tactical gear and military garb armed with various weapons, to the Capitol”. He further added, “There is no scenario where that action is benign.” The committee has now unanimously voted to subpoena the former president. Aguilar also added that Trump had asked law enforcement officials to “let them in” despite knowing this.
A number of Secret Service communications regarding the attack were sent to the White House on January 5 and 6, the committee has gathered. The 43-year-old California congressman said that in light of this new information, the committee will be “conducting further investigative depositions”.
According to Aguilar, the committee is also reviewing whether some witnesses were coerced to not speak in front of the body. The committee is reviewing testimony regarding “advice given not to tell the committee about this specific topic.”
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The House select committee was informed by a security official that it was widely known that Trump had an outburst after being advised by his security personnel that he could not go to the Capitol during the riot. This news was so common that it apparently became “water cooler talk”, said Aguilar.
The Californian Democrat stated that an officer had told him, “In the days following that, I do remember, you know, again, hearing again how angry the President was when, you know, they were in the limo”.
