7.2 "I'LL BE THERE WITH YOU"
From a tent backstage at the Ellipse, President Trump looked out at the crowd of approximately 53,000 supporters and became enraged. Just under half of those gathered—a sizeable stretch of about 25,000 people[53]—refused to walk through the magnetometers and be screened for weapons,[54] leaving the venue looking half-empty to the television audience at home.
According to testimony received by the Committee, earlier that morning at the White House, the President was told that the onlookers were unwilling to pass through the magnetometers because they were armed. "We have enough space, sir. They don't want to come in right now," Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Ornato reportedly told President Trump. "They have weapons that they don't want confiscated by the Secret Service."[55]
So, when President Trump got to the rally site and could see the crowd for himself "[h]e was fucking furious," as Cassidy Hutchinson later texted Ornato.[56] Hutchinson testified that just minutes before addressing the crowd, President Trump shouted to his advance team: "I don't [fucking] care that they have weapons. They're not here to hurt me. Take the [fucking] mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here. Take the [fucking] mags away."[57]
By noon, President Trump took to the stage at the Ellipse.[58] The President wanted all of those in attendance, including those who hadn't passed through the magnetometers, to come closer to the stage. "And I'd love to have if those tens of thousands of people would be allowed," President Trump said. "But I'd love it if they could be allowed to come up here with us. Is that possible? Can you just let [them] come up, please?"[59]
President Trump repeatedly made it clear to those around him in the days before January 6th that he wanted to march to the Capitol alongside his supporters. That is, President Trump wanted to join his supporters in what the Secret Service refers to as an "off-the-record" movement (OTR).
While the President spoke, Hutchinson texted Ornato, "He also kept mentioning OTR to Capitol before he took the stage."[60] Minutes before the President stepped out, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows assured the President he was working on it.[61]
President Trump's plan to march appeared once in an early draft of the script, then a later revision was made to add the word "building" after "Capitol," making it clear exactly where the crowd should go.[62] And the President repeatedly told the crowd that he would join them.
"[A]fter this, we're going to walk down, and I'll be there with you, we're going to walk down, we're going to walk down," he said to the crowd. "[W]e're going to walk down to the Capitol, and we're going to cheer on
