A former assistant testified on Tuesday that Donald Trump attempted to grasp the steering wheel of his presidential limousine on January 6, 2021, after his security detail refused to take him to the U.S. Capitol, where his fans were rioting.

The then-president disregarded concerns that some supporters attending his fiery speech outside the White House that day were armed with AR-15-style rifles, instead requesting that security cease screening attendees with metal-detecting magnetometers so the crowd would appear larger, according to the testimony of an aide.

"Take the effing mags away; they're not here to hurt me," Trump was reported as saying that morning by Cassidy Hutchinson, a top adviser to Trump's then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Tony Ornato, a top Secret Service employee and Trump's deputy chief of staff for operations, reported the communication to Hutchinson, according to Hutchinson's evidence on the sixth day of House of Representatives hearings into the tragic assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6.

The New York Times and NBC, citing Secret Service sources, said that Robert Engel, the chief of Donald Trump's security detail, and the limousine driver were prepared to testify under oath that Trump never reached for the steering wheel. Engel was there when Ornato repeated the story, according to Hutchinson.

According to unnamed sources cited by The New York Times and CNN, Ornato refuted the claim and was eager to testify.

Hutchinson said, citing her chat with Ornato, that Trump clashed with Secret Service personnel who requested he return to the White House rather than join supporters storming the Capitol as Congress met to confirm Joe Biden's victory against him in the presidential election.

Trump's bogus claims that his 2020 election loss was the product of fraud incited by his supporters.

"I'm the president of the United States. Take me to the Capitol immediately,' "Hutchinson cited an angry Trump's statement. She claimed that Trump attempted to grab the steering wheel of the heavily fortified presidential car from the back seat and rushed in rage at a Secret Service agent.

Republican Trump refuted her version of his conduct.

Trump said on his social media app Truth Social, "Her Fake story that I tried to grab the steering wheel of the White House Limousine in order to steer it to the Capitol Building is 'sick' and fraudulent,"

The Secret Service stated that it was fully cooperating with the committee and would continue to do so.

"We learned of the new information shared at today's hearing and plan on responding formally and on the record as soon as they can accommodate us," the statement continued.

Jody Hunt, Hutchinson's attorney, posted on Twitter that she had contacted the FBI "She testified under oath and reported what was given to her. Those who have knowledge of the incident must also testify under oath."

Dozens of courts, electoral officials, and studies by Trump's administration have dismissed his accusations of election fraud, including absurd tales about an Italian security firm and the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's manipulation of U.S. ballots.

On the day of the attack, four persons perished, one from police gunfire and three from natural causes. Over one hundred police officers were injured, and one of them died the next day. Later, four officers committed suicide.

Witness tampering?

Representative Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans on the nine-member House panel, revealed possible evidence of witness tampering and obstruction of justice after around two hours of testimony.

Cheney displayed signals to anonymous witnesses informing them that an unidentified someone would closely monitor their testimony and expect their allegiance.

Before Meadows, Republican Mick Mulvaney served as Trump's chief of staff. "There is an old saying that the cover-up is usually more important than the crime. Today was a disaster for the former president. My guess is that the situation will continue to worsen."

According to Hutchinson, meadows and Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani sought pardons from Trump.

On Tuesday, via WSYR radio in Syracuse, New York, Giuliani stated that he had not sought a pardon.

A former White House staffer testified for the first time this month, after six hearings, at the hastily arranged hearing on Tuesday.

Hutchinson, 26, painted a picture of panicked White House officials recoiling at the prospect of Trump joining what was to become a violent mob pushing into the Capitol, hunting for his vice president, Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other lawmakers who were certifying Biden's victory over Trump.

Every imaginable crime

The White House officials were concerned about the potential criminal charges against Trump and others.

If Trump were to visit the Capitol on January 6, White House counselor Pat Cipollone told Hutchinson, "We're going to get charged with every crime imaginable,"

"We must ensure that this does not occur, as it would be a bad concept for us. We have significant legal issues if we visit the Capitol on that date." According to Cipollone, Hutchinson testified.

Hutchinson, who sat adjacent to Trump's Oval Office, claimed that Meadows was aware of the impending violence days before the attack on the United States Capitol.

'Things might get real, real bad on January 6,' he reportedly told her employer inside the White House on January 2.

She claimed Giuliani stated on January 6: "It's going to be terrific that we're going to the Capitol. The president will be present; he will appear authoritative.'"

At that point, she told the seven-Democrat and two-Republican committee, "It was the first moment that I remembered feeling scared and nervous of what could happen on January 6."

This month's hearings included recorded evidence from Ivanka Trump, Trump's eldest daughter, and Bill Barr, Trump's former attorney general. Along with other witnesses, they said that they did not accept Trump's phony assertions of widespread fraud and attempted to dissuade him from believing them.

Barr told the Associated Press in an interview before his resignation that there was no proof of fraud. Trump was so enraged by this that he hurled his lunch at a White House wall, breaking a porcelain dish and leaving ketchup flowing down the wall, according to video evidence provided to the committee by Trump's White House press secretary at the time, Kayleigh McEnany.

Hutchinson told the committee that it was not uncommon for Trump to throw food when he was angry: "There were several times throughout my tenure with the chief of staff that I was aware of him either throwing dishes or flipping the tablecloth to let all the contents of the table go onto the floor and likely break or go everywhere."