Trump urged armed supporters to storm Capitol - aide

Donald Trump knew supporters had weapons when he urged them to storm the Capitol to overturn the 2020 election, a former White House aide has said.

Ex-aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified to the committee probing the 6 January riots that Mr Trump and his top staff knew the potential for violence.

But a planned rally, which attorney Rudy Giuliani said would make Mr Trump "look powerful", went ahead.

The president also demanded to join the march on the Capitol himself, she said.

In a series of public hearings, the 6 January committee has sought to link the former president directly to the efforts to prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 election results.

Up until now, the congressional panel was missing a key piece of information - the testimony of someone who could offer a first-hand account of the situation in the White House in the hours before the attack.

But at its sixth hearing - hastily announced with what the committee said was the revelation of new evidence - Ms Hutchinson, 25, filled in the blanks.

As principal advisor to Mr Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows, Ms Hutchinson sat less than 10 seconds from the Oval Office, spoke daily with Mr Meadows, and was the chief West Wing liaison to Capitol Hill.

She recounted that several top officials warned repeatedly that Mr Trump's rally on 6 January could spiral out of control.

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe told the White House the event could be "dangerous for the president's legacy", while counsel Pat Cipollone expressed concerns it would look like the White House was inciting a riot.

And days before the attack, Ms Hutchinson recounted Mr Meadows admitting that things "could get real, real bad".