A growing number of Democrats are concerned about pro-Trump groups detected inside the Capitol complex in the days before a mob invaded the building last week in what led to an impressive failure of intelligence and intelligence. police planning.
Many Democrats were surprised that people in the crowd could find offices of top Democratic leaders, including a third-floor office, which was unmarked, and used the whip of the majority of the House James Clyburn (DS.C. ), the highest-ranking black legislator in Congress.
“The perpetrators, the terrorists, were able to find places in the Capitol that I probably couldn’t find,” Rep. Kim Schrier
Kimberly (Kim) Merle Schrier Rep. Kim Schrier defends Washington House seat against GOP House challenger approves .2T COVID-19 relief bill while White House talks about Pelosi’s stalemate: the house will remain in session until ‘reach agreement on coronavirus relief (D-Wash.), He said Thursday in an interview with the Cheddar newspaper.
It’s unclear if people marching through the Capitol found offices simply walking around and opening doors at random, or if there was more planning.
Some Democrats point to tours of the Capitol and visits by constituents to nearby office buildings in the House and Senate. They question whether any of these visits were used to cover the Capitol complex before the violent attack on the building.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill
Rebecca (Mikie) Democrats Michelle SherrillHouse calls for investigation into Capitol’s “suspicious” tours a day before the New Jersey Democrat Democrat says members of Congress led “reconnaissance” tours before the uprising. Five centrist Democrats oppose Pelosi as president in a tight vote (DN.J.), who served as a Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor before joining Congress, gathered about three dozen House Democrats on Wednesday to sign a letter urging investigators to scan any guest logbook or video images for possible links to the breach that resulted in five deaths, including the death of a Capitol police officer.
He compared the Capitoline tours he witnessed on Jan. 5 to “recognition.”
“Seeing these groups around the Capitol complex was really amazing,” Sherrill told MSNBC. “And it was so strange to see them that my chief of staff called the sergeant-at-arms to say, ‘What’s the matter?’ ”
Some Democrats have said there may be “co-conspirators” in the Capitol building helping those involved in the crowd. Fears about this situation have also been amplified by reports that dozens of people in a federal terrorist database were in Washington, DC, on the day of the attack.
Schrier told Cheddar that the riot police “clearly had help” and that “some of my colleagues could have been conspirators.”
Schrier’s office said the lawmaker was referring to public reports when he said riot police appeared to have access to places on the Capitol he could not find. The office did not respond when asked to clarify what the congresswoman meant by “co-conspirators” and whether she kept open the possibility that members or staff would help the insurgents carry out the breach.
But the heart of the calls for an investigation into the Jan. 5 tour forced Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Nancy PelosiTrump is trying to freeze 400 million programs during the last week of the presidency. Dozens of the FBI’s terrorist watch list were on the day of the Capitol Revolt in DC. Porter loses seat on the panel of the House overseeing the MORE financial sector (D-California) to delve deeper into the issue Friday when confronted reporters at the Capitol.
“If it is found that members of Congress were complicit in this insurrection, if they helped and incited the crime,” said a gloomy Pelosi, “he may have to take action beyond Congress, in terms of prosecution. for that”.
Leader of the minority of the house Kevin McCarthy
Kevin Owen McCarthy McCarthy will not support efforts to oust Cheney GOP senators calling for a commission to investigate the Capitol attack. (R-California) has called for a bipartisan commission of inquiry to investigate the attack, an aide said in response to questions from The Hill.
The attendee did not respond to accusations by some Democrats that unnamed House Republicans may have been conspirators.
Democrats filing the indictment have given no evidence that lawmakers helped coordinate the attack.
The FBI did not respond when asked if investigators are studying whether someone “inside”, including members of Congress or staff, is being examined for their role in non-compliance with the Capitol on Jan. 6 or whether the tours of the Capitol in particular are calculated as part of the FBI’s broader probe.
Since last spring, public access to the Capitol building and nearby office buildings has been severely restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Public visits to the Capitol building, as well as private visits led by lawmakers, have been suspended. Still, people who have “official business” in office buildings can still get into it.
All office buildings are connected to the US Capitol through a system of tunnels. Members, staff, journalists and other visitors use a local metro to travel around the resort.
During the crowd attack, it appeared that those who violated the Capitol, however, did so by breaking down doors and windows of the building, not using the tunnel system.
The Sherrill office warning was just one of several alarms Democratic lawmakers sounded to Capitol security personnel in the days leading up to the Jan. 6 attack.
The Hill has learned that on December 30, Rep. Frederica Wilson
Frederica Patricia Wilson Lawyers warned police of possible attacks before the siege. McMorris Rodgers floats vacant in Democratic presidential vote after COVID diagnosis Five House Democrats who could join Biden’s cabinet MORE (D-Fla.) He spoke by phone with a Capitol police captain, warning that the online and social media talks he saw were so violent that he feared Trump supporters would try to storm the Capitol and “kill half of Congress “along with Vice President Pence. He urged police to tighten security around the building, as did the president of financial services Maxine Waters
Lawyers warned police of possible attacks before the siege Maxine Waters in a dismissal speech says Trump “is capable of starting a civil war” Brown puts protections against housing and evictions at the top of the agenda banking group MORE (D-California) in a phone call a day later with then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund.
Rep. Torres standard
Norma Judith Torres Time has passed to get rid of Jesse Helms’ legacy Hispanic Caucus calls for Labor Department meeting on COVID on meat-packing plants The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden’s latest plan on racial inequality MORE (D-California), who signed the Sherrill letter, said Jan. 5 saw two groups of Trump supporters in the Rayburn building. This legislative office building, located next to the Capitol, houses about 170 members of the United States House of Representatives.
He said members of the visiting groups were ready for Trump clothing: Trump campaign t-shirts, red-white-and-blue scarves with Trump’s name on them and numerous “Make America Great Again” baseball caps that collectively , resembled “a beehive of red hats.”
“I was surprised to see it because no one was supposed to be in those buildings,” Torres told The Hill on Thursday. “And certainly not in this area, the basement, where you have access to the garage. You know, it goes directly to where members and staff park. ”
Among an unheard-of group that saw Torres, there were visitors who used their phones to record what appeared to be a video of them walking through a row of members’ offices, including a visitor who “walked up to the nameplate. of a member “.
Torres said she felt uncomfortable approaching the group, so she’s not sure if the nameplate identified an office of Republican or Democratic members.
He said he believed “absolutely” that the assault could have been aided by members of Congress.
Rep. I Kildee
Daniel (Dan), Timothy KildeeBiden’s Pentagon selector, puts Democrats on a CDC bond studying the impact of “forever chemical” exposure to COVID-19 Democrats antibodies to determine leaders after disappointing election MORE (D-Mich.), Another signer of Sherrill’s letter, also recalled seeing those who appeared to be pro-Trump groups within the Capitol complex despite public health restrictions on visitors. The days leading up to Wednesday’s breach left him with a “sense of uneasiness,” he said.
“Some of the new and existing members of Congress made some of these people come in, escorting them to the offices and wandering the corridors. And it was awkward, “Kildee told progressive Michael Moore on the activist’s podcast.” Monday, Tuesday, the red hats, I saw them in the building. ”
The Hill asked Kildee in which building the congressman saw the groups, but his office declined to provide details beyond saying the groups were seen in the “Capitol complex.”
Some Democrats do not point the finger directly at Republican lawmakers, but they suggest the Capitol people might have helped some riot police in some way.
Rep. Karen Bass
Karen Ruth BassRep. San Francisco Mayor Says Harris Substitute Picks “Real Blow for African American Community” Newsom Paddilla Picks for California Senate Seat MORE (D-California) told The Hill that many people told him riot police had been helped to some extent by Congressional staff, perhaps even given access to “enter in advance and analyze the building.” “.
“For me, if there was any member, any staff member, any member of the Capitol police, it would have to be brought to the maximum of the law, but also of ethics,” said Bass, the immediate president. of the Black Caucus, referring to a possible investigation by the Ethics Committee. “And it may be that a member is expelled, it may be that a member is arrested, it may be that a staff member is arrested or fired.”
“But whatever it is,” he continued, “if there was involvement, it should be pursued to the fullest.”