January 6 hearings: ex-aide paints violent picture of Donald Trump

Cassidy Hutchinson, a junior White House staffer, whose proximity to the-then US president Donald Trump and top aides on the day of Capitol Hill riots, gave her a remarkably close view, has offered previously unknown details about the extent of Trump's rage in his final weeks of office.

Her testimony came as the US Justice Department expands its investigation into the insurrection and questions about whether Trump himself could face criminal charges for his conduct.

Cassidy told the January 6 panel on the morning of that day in 2021, consumed by crowd size concerns, he directed staff in profane terms to remove metal detectors he thought would slow down supporters who'd amassed in Washington for a speech.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, painted a devastating picture, including an allegation, which Trump denies, that he tried to grab the steering wheel of the car he was travelling in and wrestled with a Secret Service officer in an attempt to divert his motorcade to the Capitol, where his supporters were gathering.

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The response from the former president is significant for two main reasons: it makes clear that he had been informed that his supporters were carrying weapons, and that he knew those armed people intended to make a non-permitted march to the Capitol.