by John Solomon
It has become one of the enduring messages of the House Democrats’ final report on the Jan. 6 riot: Donald Trump had a plan and an intention to go directly to the U.S. Capitol to join those disrupting the certification of the 2020 election results.
“The Committee’s principal concern was that the President actually intended to participate personally in the January 6th efforts at the Capitol, leading the attempt to overturn the election either from inside the House Chamber, from a stage outside the Capitol, or otherwise,” the committee wrote in its final report in December, 2022.
“The Committee regarded those facts as important because they are relevant to President Trump’s intent on January 6th. There is no question from all the evidence assembled that President Trump did have that intent,” it added.
Lawmakers, pundits and journalists have all echoed that line in the months before and after the report’s release.
“I imagine that he thought that he would enter like Mussolini being carried on the shoulders of his supporters and enter the Capitol,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said, comparing Trump to Italy’s fascist leader during World War II.
In his speech at Valley Forge on Friday reviving his argument that Trump and MAGA supporters pose a threat to democracy, President Joe Biden pointedly avoided making the claim. In fact, he took the opposite tact and suggested a cowardly Trump declined to join his supporters storming the Capitol.
“He promised he would right them — right them. Everything they did, he would be side by side with them. Then, as usual, he left the dirty work to others. He retreated to the White House,” Biden said.
Such conflicting portrayals may be confusing to voters. That confusion is also rooted in an undisputed fact: Trump never actually went to the Capitol after his speech on the Ellipse.
The House Democrats’ claims are based on two pieces of testimony. Some Trump aides recalled to the committee the 45th president mentioning in a meeting on Jan, 4, 2021, that he might want to go to the Capitol.
And then former aide Cassidy Hutchinson claimed in a disputed account based on hearsay that on the way back from his speech Trump lunged at the driver of the presidential limo to commandeer it and take it to the Capitol. The Secret Service and Trump deny that happened, and no evidence has emerged to validate Hutchinson’s claim. That did not stop the account from making its way into mainstream media.
The Democratic Party’s narrative is further undercut by internal Secret Service documents reviewed by Just the News, which show there was no plan heading into the Jan. 6 event to take Trump to the Capitol.
All presidential trips are highly scripted because of the need for security. The Secret Service places assets at all locations where a president may go. That did not happen at the Capitol, according to the Secret Service records reviewed by Just the News, suggesting Trump’s alleged statements to the presidential aides two days earlier did not result in a change of plan.
The final Secret Service plan approved at 5:35 a,m. on Jan. 6 for Trump – codenamed “Mogul” in the document – reads:
“1050 – Depart White House via motorcade en route the Ellipse …1055 – Arrive the Ellipse. 1135 – Depart the Ellipse via motorcade en route White House. 1140 – Arrive White House.”
An accompanying PowerPoint created by the Secret Service laid out all the security provisions for the event, and it like the plan made no mention of a stop at the Capitol.
The only Secret Service assets deployed to the Capitol in the plan were for Vice President Mike Pence – codenamed “Hoosier” – who went there to preside over the vote certification. That security detail ended up having to temporarily relocate Pence to a safe location in the Capitol complex when protesters turned violent and stormed the inside of the Capitol.
Secret Service and congressional sources confirmed to Just the News that both the schedule and PowerPoint were provided to the House Democrats’ Jan. 6 committee.
The committee also had access to more Secret Service documentation showing there wasn’t a plan or intent for Trump to go to the Capitol on Jan. 6. A lengthy string of email messages chronicle how Trump made an impromptu suggestion during his speech to go to the Capitol after his speech at the Ellipse, causing the Secret Service to scramble to see if they could find assets for such a trip.
“Mogul announced on live tv that he will head to the Capitol with the crowd,” a Secret Service supervisor wrote shortly after 1 p.m. “Per advisement of REDACTED will be the Response Team Leader comprising of the response team designated below to filter in with the crowds if Mogul decides to head to the capitol.”
A reserve team was also stood up, but about an hour later all agents were told to stand down and return to the White House because Trump never made the trip.
“For any Response Personnel IVO of Capitol, break from current position and move towards WH Zones,” a Secret Service commander wrote in the end of the email string entitled “Formation of Response Team for Mogul’s OTR walk/motorcade to the Capitol.”
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John Solomon is an award-winning investigative journalist, author and digital media entrepreneur who serves as Chief Executive Officer and Editor in Chief of Just the News. Before founding Just the News, Solomon played key reporting and executive roles at some of America’s most important journalism institutions, such as The Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Newsweek, The Daily Beast and The Hill.
Photo “Secret Service on Duty” by Secret Service.
