Today for the first time, current leaders of the relevant law enforcement entities — the Capitol police, sergeant at arms — will come before Congress to answer questions on the January 6 attack.
The hearing, before the Legislative Branch subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, is a complement to one held in the Senate on Tuesday where lawmakers got to grill the former Capitol police chief and sergeants at arms. The Senate hearing was replete with finger pointing and some GOP conspiracy theories, and left many questions unanswered on both the granular and big picture level.
The star witness in today’s hearing will likely be acting chief of Capitol Police Yogananda Pittman, who was elevated to replace the former chief who resigned under intense pressure. Pittman was assistant chief of police of the department’s protective & intelligence operations during the attack, which is specifically tasked with gathering intelligence on and investigating threats to members of Congress. During the Tuesday hearing, much of the security failures were blamed on intelligence lapses, something Pittman will probably be able to speak to with more insider knowledge.
Watch Live
What To Expect
The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. and include testimony from:
- Yogananda Pittman, acting chief of Capitol police
- Timothy Blodgett, acting House sergeant at arms
Things We're Listening For
- Who/what/when details, especially pertaining to the National Guard and its seemingly delayed deployment
- Any insight into what former President Trump was doing behind the scenes
- Reference to the elephant in the room — during the Senate hearing, Republican lawmakers who helped incite the insurrection got off scot-free. We'll be listening for any remarks holding them accountable from their Democratic counterparts, along with any attempts to distance themselves either by playing down the attack or boosting conspiracy theories about it
This is the first time current officials in these roles will address Congress since the January 6 attack.
Today for the first time, current leaders of the relevant law enforcement entities — the Capitol police, sergeant at arms — will come before Congress to answer questions on the January 6 attack.
The hearing, before the Legislative Branch subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, is a complement to one held in the Senate on Tuesday where lawmakers got to grill the former Capitol police chief and sergeants at arms. The Senate hearing was replete with finger pointing and some GOP conspiracy theories, and left many questions unanswered on both the granular and big picture level.
The star witness in today’s hearing will likely be acting chief of Capitol Police Yogananda Pittman, who was elevated to replace the former chief who resigned under intense pressure. Pittman was assistant chief of police of the department’s protective & intelligence operations during the attack, which is specifically tasked with gathering intelligence on and investigating threats to members of Congress. During the Tuesday hearing, much of the security failures were blamed on intelligence lapses, something Pittman will probably be able to speak to with more insider knowledge.
“Ranking member Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) echoed Ryan’s emphasis, saying that she doesn’t like the fencing up around the Capitol that makes the “seat of democracy look like a military base.””
The fencing was installed due to an INSURRECTION that occurred on January 6, 2021.
As I look at the attacks on Capitol police officers one things becomes clearer and clearer, the “Blue Lives Matter,” “Law and Order” GOP community don’t believe in actual law enforcement and actual equal protection under the law. The believe that the police are their adjuncts. No wonder they attacked the officers when police actually tried to enforce the laws against the insurrectionists. You can also observe a very different response by the insurrectionists to the officers who did act as their adjuncts, selfies with big grins etc.
What I think is eluding a lot of police departments around the nation is that blacks, latinx, LBGQT, and garden variety liberals see that too many officers are behaving as adjuncts to the white paramilitaries. I think most people probably do believe that there are just “a few bad apples,” but acknowledging that doesn’t solve the problem when the response is to throw up your hands and do nothing. The failure to pursue the bad apples tells people that the whole system is corrupt enough to prevent it’s being cleaned up, or that the bad apples are in charge and the whole system is going to get worse.
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