I have to say I’ve been skeptical of the Trump SUV story since I first heard it. Maybe Cassidy Hutchinson did hear this story from Ornato, or legitimately believes she did, but I just don’t get how you grab the steering wheel from the back seat of a presumably quite large SUV. Andy, as usual, has been all over the various aspects of this story, so read his latest if you haven’t. Here’s the Washington Post account, and a relevant snippet:
Trump denied trying to grab the steering wheel, calling Hutchinson’s testimony “’sick’ and fraudulent.” Ornato and Engel were not asked about the incident when they testified to the committee, the person briefed on the Secret Service testimony said. . . .
Three agents who accompanied Trump on Jan. 6 are disputing that Trump assaulted or grabbed at Engel and/or the steering wheel, according to one current and one former law enforcement official familiar with their accounts. The three agents, Engle and Ornato are also willing to testify under oath to the committee about their recollection of events on Jan. 6 in the Secret Service vehicle, the two people said. The three agents do not dispute that Trump was furious that the agents would not take him to the Capitol.
If the committee has helped blow up Hutchinson’s credibility by not doing due diligence on this proverbial too-good-to-check story that’s not central to anything it’s trying to prove, it is political and investigatory malpractice of the first order.