Judiciary Chairman Congressman Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.) Seeks Answers on DOJ's Prosecution of January 6th Insurrectionists

 

Chairman Nadler Seeks Answers on DOJ's Prosecution of January 6th Insurrectionists "It is critical that all of the perpetrators of this insurrectionist attack be identified, investigated, arrested, charged and subsequently prosecuted." Stay informed and connected: Judiciary.House.Gov / @HouseJudiciary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 29, 2021 CONTACT: Shadawn Reddick-Smith, 202-225-3951

Washington, D.C. – Following reports that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is considering not charging a large portion of the insurrectionists who breached the United States Capitol on January 6th, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson demanding that the Department of Justice dedicate every available resource to its offices across the country in order to ensure that all insurrectionists and rioters are held accountable. The Chairman is seeking any memorandum or guidance documents issued to the Justice Department’s 94 U.S. Attorney offices regarding any investigative guidelines, strike forces or prosecutorial guidance relating to these cases. Specifically, he is requesting more information on the strike force relating to sedition charges, as referenced by Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Michael R. Sherwin. In the letter, the Chairman is also demanding that these investigations include an examination of whether insurrectionists targeted the Capitol Police Officers based on actual or perceived race or national origin. As the Department moves forward, Chairman Nadler has requested that the Committee receive briefings and written reports that include: aggregate numbers of the cases under investigation, charges filed and any resulting convictions, and demographic data about whether any of those charged held any current or past positions of public trust or military or law enforcement service. On January 7th, Chairman Nadler, Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Bennie G. Thompson, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff, Committee on Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith, and Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray seeking an immediate briefing on the FBI’s efforts to investigate the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol. Following the briefing, the Members issued a statement expressing "grave concerns about ongoing and violent threats to our democracy." On January 16th, the Judiciary Committee, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Homeland Security, and the Committee on Oversight and Reform, opened an investigation into the events and intelligence surrounding the insurrection on January 6th incited by President Trump, and related threats against the nation’s peaceful transition of power.  Full text of today's letter can be found below and here:  January 29, 2021 The Honorable Monty Wilkinson Acting Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC  20530 Dear Acting Attorney General Wilkinson: Following the attack on the U.S. Capitol, we were heartened to hear that Michael R. Sherwin, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, announced his intent to prosecute the rioters and insurrectionists who breached the United States Capitol, assaulted United States Capitol Police Officers, and destroyed federal property.[1]  Similar statements have also been made by other U.S. Attorneys across the country.  In a January 12, 2021 press conference, FBI Washington Field Office ADIC Steven D’Antuono referenced publicly that there are, at last publicly available count at least 275 open case files, representing the “tip of the iceberg” in this matter.[2]  More recent reports suggest that over 400 investigations have been opened.[3]  Acting U.S. Attorney Sherwin also noted at the January 12th briefing that the scale of the inquiry would be an “unprecedented” long-term investigation for the Justice Department and the FBI.  He suggested that there could be “hundreds” of criminal cases filed in local superior courts as well as the federal courts.  Sherwin also said that the gamut of criminal conduct and possible cases was “mind-blowing.” More recently, reports have emerged that suggest that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is considering whether to charge a large portion of the rioters who breached the Capitol security perimeter.[4]  It is critical that all of the perpetrators of this insurrectionist attack be identified, investigated, arrested, charged and subsequently prosecuted.  The Department of Justice must dedicate every available resource to its offices across the country in order to ensure that all of these individuals are held accountable. Reports abound of both well-developed and ad hoc conspiracies to attack the Capitol in order to disrupt the constitutional process to certify the votes of the Electoral College.[5]  These involved threats of violence and the planning of the attack, and many of these statements and reports went far beyond protected First Amendment activity.  As soon as possible, we respectfully request more detailed information on what process and criteria is being used in order to determine whether charges will be brought in federal court or Superior Court of the District of Columbia.  We would also like more information about when and whether any additional charges will be filed and whether any cases filed initially in Superior Court are subsequently transferred to federal court. As these investigations proceed, please provide us with copies of any memorandum or guidance documents issued to the Justice Department’s 94 U.S. Attorney offices regarding any investigative guidelines, strike forces or prosecutorial guidance relating to these cases.  Specifically, we would also like to request more information on the strike force relating to sedition charges that Acting U.S. Attorney Sherwin referenced in his recent press conference.[6]  We also respectfully request detailed updates and copies of any charging memoranda for these cases.  Furthermore, we would like to be updated on how each office will pursue the charges associated in this case as well as the any criteria to categorize cases as either misdemeanors or felonies. The explicit racist and anti-Semitic tone of the attack on the Capitol is deeply disturbing.  The insurrectionists peppered African American officers with racist remarks as some officers were engaged in hand-to-hand confrontations.[7]  There have been widely distributed images of individuals displaying anti-Semitic propaganda.  National investigations should include an examination of whether insurrectionists targeted the officers based on actual or perceived race or national origin.  Should evidence of such targeted attacks, based on race or national origin, be uncovered, we ask that you report to us on whether these activities are charged and prosecuted as federal hate crimes. Sadly, it appears that former and retired employees of the United States military, including veterans, participated in unlawful breach of the Capitol barriers and illegal entry into the Capitol.[8]  In a memorandum issued last week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff recognized that this event was a “direct assault on the U.S. Congress, the Capitol building and our Constitutional process.”  These military leaders stated bluntly that the actions of those involved were “inconsistent with the rule of law.”  As you are well aware, any type of activity that involves violence, civil disobedience, or a breach of peace should punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice or under state or federal law.  Anyone involved in the attack on the Capitol should be identified and investigated to determine whether federal charges are appropriate.  To the degree that there will be distinguishing criteria regarding the manner or prioritization in which federal prosecutors investigate and pursue charges, we ask that you provide us with detailed information relating to how these policies are developed and applied consistently throughout the country. In addition, as the Department of Justice moves forward, we ask that the House Judiciary Committee receive briefings and written reports on the aggregate numbers of the cases under investigation as well as number of cases with charges filed.  As these cases proceed, we would also like to request ongoing, timely reports listing the charges filed and any resulting convictions.  In these reports, please include information relating to cases brought in the District of Columbia as well as individual federal districts that identifies both the offenses charged as well as the offense of conviction and average sentence for any resulting convictions.  Further, we request that these reports contain demographic data about whether any of those charged held any current or past positions of public trust or military or law enforcement service, especially given reports that some of these individuals may have been elected to public office or had even current or recent military or law enforcement service.  The events of January 6 were an attack on our democracy and, in effect, our entire country.  We thank you for the role that the Department’s investigators and prosecutors will play in bringing those responsible to justice, and in helping to prevent any such future attacks. Sincerely, Jerrold Nadler Chairman   cc:       The Honorable Jim Jordan, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary [1] Press Conference, U.S. Dep’t Just., Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin for the District of Columbia and FBI Washington Field Office ADIC Steven D'Antuono Provide Update on Criminal Charges Related to Events at the Capitol on January 6 (Jan. 12, 2021), https://www.justice.gov/opa/video/acting-us-attorney-michael-sherwin-district-columbia-and-fbi-washington-field-office-adic. [2] Zachary Cohen, “275 Cases Open in Capitol Riot Investigation, US Prosecutors Say,” CNN (Jan. 15, 2021), https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/15/politics/capitol-riot-violent/index.html. [3] Spencer S. Hsu, et al., “U.S. Prosecutors Eye 400 Potential Suspects, Expect Sedition Charges ‘Very soon’ in Jan. 6 Capitol Breach,” Wash. Post (Jan. 26, 2021), https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/pelosi-laptop-arrest-hearing-capitol-riot/2021/01/26/4ddda1ae-5ff6-11eb-9430-e7c77b5b0297_story.html. [4] Devlin Barrett & Spencer S. Hsu, “Justice Department, FBI Debate Not Charging Some of the Capitol Rioters,” Wash. Post (Jan. 23, 2021), https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/doj-capitol-rioters-charges-debate/2021/01/23/3b0cf112-5d97-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d_story.html. [5] Spencer S. Hsu et al., “Self-styled militia members planned on storming the U.S. Capitol days in advance of Jan. 6 attack, court documents say Investigative reporter,” Wash. Post (Jan. 19, 2021), https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/conspiracy-oath-keeper-arrest-capitol-riot/2021/01/19/fb84877a-5a4f-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d_story.html. [6] Id. [7] Emmanuel Felton, “Black Police Officers Describe the Racist Attacks They Faced as They Protected the Capitol,” BuzzFeed News (Jan. 9, 2021), https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emmanuelfelton/black-capitol-police-racism-mob. [8] Tom Dreisbach & Meg Anderson, “Nearly 1 In 5 Defendants in Capitol Riot Cases Served in The Military,” NPR (Jan. 21, 2021), https://www.npr.org/2021/01/21/958915267/nearly-one-in-five-defendants-in-capitol-riot-cases-served-in-the-military.

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US CONGRESS HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP JIM CLYBURN (SC) CONGRATULATES SECRETARY AUSTIN ON HISTORIC CONFIRMATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 22, 2021

CONTACT:

Hope Derrick, Hope.Derrick@mail.house.gov, 202-226-3210

Erica Loewe, Erica.Loewe@mail.house.gov

__________________________________________________________________

MAJORITY WHIP JIM CLYBURN (SC) CONGRATULATES SECRETARY AUSTIN ON HISTORIC CONFIRMATION

___________________________________________________________________

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn today issued the following statement on the confirmation of retired 4-star Army General Lloyd Austin as the Biden Administration Secretary of Defense.

"Today the historic Biden-Harris Administration made history again. I offer my heartfelt congratulations to General Lloyd Austin on his historic confirmation as Secretary of Defense by an overwhelming bipartisan vote. He is the leader the Pentagon needs and I know he will protect our nation’s security and make all Americans proud.

“The upper ranks of the Defense Department have been historically under represented by men and women of color and Secretary Austin, a son of the South with 41 years of military service, has demonstrated throughout his career that he will lead a Pentagon that is inclusive and forward thinking. I look forward to his leadership and to working with him in his new capacity."

Hank Aaron, Hall of Fame American Baseball player and former Home Run King, dead at 86

Story by NBC News

Written by Ethan Sacks

Photo by Atlanta Braves

Hank Aaron, whose prodigious swing took him from a poverty-stricken section of Mobile, Alabama, to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, has died.

He was 86.

Aaron played 21 of his 23 seasons for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, and Braves Chairman Terry McGuirk said he was heartbroken by the death of baseball's one-time home run king.

“We are absolutely devastated by the passing of our beloved Hank. He was a beacon for our organization first as a player, then with player development, and always with our community efforts," McGuirk said Friday in a statement.

"His incredible talent and resolve helped him achieve the highest accomplishments, yet he never lost his humble nature. Henry Louis Aaron wasn’t just our icon, but one across Major League Baseball and around the world. His success on the diamond was matched only by his business accomplishments off the field and capped by his extraordinary philanthropic efforts."

He added: "We are heartbroken and thinking of his wife Billye and their children Gaile, Hank, Jr., Lary, Dorinda and Ceci and his grandchildren."

Aaron wrapped up his 23-year career in the majors in 1976 with a raft of records that still stand, including 2,297 runs batted in, 6,856 total bases and 25 All-Star game appearances.

But the former Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves great is best known for a record that no longer stands — hitting his way to the all-time home run record previously held by Babe Ruth and later eclipsed by Barry Bonds.

The Babe's record of 714 career home runs once seemed insurmountable, but Aaron surpassed the ex-Yankee with his No. 715 in front of his home crowd in Atlanta on April 8, 1974. Not everyone, however, was cheering as hard as Braves fans.

Aaron said on "The Dan Patrick Show" that he was deluged with racist hate mail and death threats as a black player threatening the mark of one of the most popular white players to ever play the game. He said he kept all of the letters to remind his grandchildren how pervasive racism is in the country.

"In all of the interviews that the police and the detectives and whoever was in charge did, (they said) all of these were probably just crank letters, but there may be one in there from someone that meant something," Aaron said in the October 2016 interview.

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick on Friday reminded fans that Aaron broke with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954, just seven years after Jackie Robinson shattered the color line with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

So Aaron faced the same brutal racism other Black players of the era experienced, especially as the slugger approached Ruth’s home run record.

“This Black man in the deep South was about to break a record that no one really thought could ever be broken and that was not wearing well on a lot of (white) people,” Kendrick told the MLB Network, shortly after getting word of Aaron's passing. “And yet he was able to withstand, endure and still perform at an exceptional level.”

Born Henry Louis Aaron on Feb. 5, 1934, the future outfielder was the third of eight children of a tavern owner. Given his athletic prowess, sports seemed to be a ticket out of his poor black neighborhood in Mobile, as he starred in baseball and football first for segregated Central High School and later for a private school called the Josephine Allen Institute.

But he would quit before he graduated, having inked contract as an 18-year-old with the Negro Baseball League's Indianapolis Clowns. He only played part of the 1952 season, but served enough time to lead his team to a championship.

After Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947, a player of Aaron's caliber wasn't going to escape notice for long. He signed a $10,000 contract with the Milwaukee Braves, with whom he made his big league debut two years later.

In 1955, Aaron hit .328 with 27 home runs and 106 RBIs in his first full season, and won his first batting title a year later.

His sole National League MVP award came in 1957 courtesy of a stat line that included a .322 batting average, 44 home runs and 132 RBIs. That magical season would end with the only World Series title of Aaron's prestigious career — a seven-game upset of the seemingly indomitable New York Yankees.

But what made Aaron arguably the greatest player in baseball history was a combination of longevity and consistency. He is one of only two players (along with Alex Rodriguez) who hit 30 home runs in 15 seasons.

The outfielder played most of his career with the Braves — 12 seasons in Milwaukee and nine in Atlanta after the team moved — but was traded back to Milwaukee, to the expansion Brewers, in 1975. He spent his final two seasons as a designated hitter for the American League squad.

He retired at the end of the 1976 season with 755 home runs and a career average of .305.

Aaron was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.

Aaron, however, didn't stay away from the Braves after he hung up his bat, eventually moving into the team's front office, where he served as executive vice president.

To the end of his life, he remained a champion of minority hiring and inclusion in the sport he loved. In October 2018, the league renamed the Elite Development Invitational, the largest developmental program for minority players, in honor of Aaron.

Appropriately enough, MLB also awards the Hank Aaron Award to the best hitter in each league as voted on by the fans and the media.

NAACP PRESIDENT AND CEO DERRICK JOHNSON: "REJOICE TODAY, REBUILD TOMORROW"

 Friend:

This morning, hate, division, and lies left the most powerful office in the world for the last time.

We endured pain, trauma, fear, and marginalization for four years, but we are still here.

We fought, we persisted, mobilized neighbors, used our voice, and most importantly, used our vote.

And so today we are celebrating a long overdue but historic occasion: The inauguration of President Joe Biden and the first woman of Black and South Asian descent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

The immense symbolism of this election cannot be ignored, especially after the hatred and ignorance that has characterized the past four years.

This election cycle we saw, once again, voters across the country put their faith in Black women, who used their political power to unify against the ugly resurgence of white supremacy.

For far too long Black women have been at the forefront of our participatory democratic process. Today we see that translated into positions of power at the highest levels of our government.

Change of this magnitude never happens in a vacuum. It took the dedicated work of organizers past and present; women like Shirley Chisolm who paved the way for Black women in politics and organizers like Stacey Abrams who were on the ground knocking on doors and registering voters.

Together we enter this new chapter, and I am calling upon every supporter, member, organizer, and activist to stand with the NAACP as we begin the work of rebuilding and healing the damages our communities have endured by advancing the Black Agenda.

Friend, now comes the long process of addressing the deeply rooted inequalities that plague our nation. Though this may be a difficult task, nothing is impossible when we stand together. Please consider making a generous donation today as we roll up our sleeves and get back to work:

Eternally grateful for your continued support,

Derrick Johnson
President and CEO
NAACP 

President Joe Biden - officially the 46th President of the United States

Officially the 46th President of the United States Joe Biden (Delaware) and Kamala Harris (California) Vice-President. Photo of the President Joe Biden and I in 2009.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn Believes Someone Knew About Capitol Hill Attack From Inside

Story by Yahoo 

Written by Tara C. Mahadevan

Sun, January 10, 2021

Image via Getty/Chip Somodevilla

House Majority Whip James Clyburn has said that the ease in which Wednesday’s rioters were able to access the U.S. Capitol makes it seem as if “something untoward may have been going on.”

“I have an unmarked office—you got to know exactly where it is,” the South Carolina Democrat told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “It’s where I spend most of my time doing my work as the majority whip. I have a staff who work real hard trying to keep up with the members—trying to make sure they do an effective job of managing the votes once they get to the floor.”

He implied that his inner office was targeted by the mob: “For some reason, these people showed up at that office. But the office where my name is on the door … was not disturbed. I’m just saying, they didn’t go to where my name was—they went where I usually hang out. So That to me indicates something untoward may have been going on.”

Clyburn echoed those same sentiments on Friday in an interview with CBS News, saying someone on the inside of the Capitol was “complicit” in this week’s events.

“I do believe that something was going on,” Clyburn told CBS anchor Lana Zak. “They knew where to go. I've been told … by some other Congress people that their staff are saying that they saw people being allowed into the building through side doors. Who opened those side doors for these protesters, or I call them these mobsters, to come into the building, not through the main entrance where magnetometers are but through side doors. Yes, somebody on the inside of those buildings were complicit in this.”

Trump insurrectionists attacked the building on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to evacuate while they were meeting to count the Electoral College votes.

Clyburn also told CBS that something felt “amiss” on Wednesday morning when he got to the Capitol and “the perimeter had not been established.” He continued, “There were no security people on the steps. They were all out in a place which I thought gave low security. They were not just derelict. You could say they were complicit.”

Since Wednesday, Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund resigned, Twitter permanently banned Trump’s account, and Democrats are looking to impeach the sitting president for again, this time using the Constitution’s 25th Amendment.

Ex-Capitol Police Chief Says Requests For National Guard Denied 6 Times In Riots

 Story by NPR 

Written by Jaclyn Diaz

The former chief of U.S. Capitol Police says security officials at the House and Senate rebuffed his early requests to call in the National Guard ahead of a demonstration in support of President Trump that turned into a deadly attack on Congress.

Former chief Steven Sund -- who resigned his post last week after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for him to step down -- made the assertions in an interview with The Washington Post published Sunday.

Sund contradicts claims made by officials after Wednesday's assault on Capitol Hill. Sund's superiors said previously that the National Guard and other additional security support could have been provided, but no one at the Capitol requested it.

Sund told the Post that House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving was concerned with the "optics" of declaring an emergency ahead of the protests and rejected a National Guard presence. He says Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger recommended that he informally request the Guard to be ready in case it was needed to maintain security.

Like Sund, Irving and Stenger have also since resigned their posts.

Sund says he requested assistance six times ahead of and during the attack on the Capitol. Each of those requests was denied or delayed, he says.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser also wanted a light police presence at the Capitol. She reportedly wanted to avoid a similar scenario as last summer, when federal forces responded to demonstrators opposed to police abuses who assembled near the White House.

During Wednesday's violence, Bowser requested, and received, a limited force of 340 from the D.C. National Guard. Those troops were unarmed and their job was to help with traffic flow — not law enforcement, which was meant to be handled by D.C. police.

When the mob reached the Capitol complex at about 12:40 p.m. ET on Wednesday, it took about 15 minutes for the west side perimeter of the building to be breached, he says. The Capitol Police contingent, which numbered around 1,400 that day, was quickly overrun by the estimated 8,000 rioters.

"If we would have had the National Guard we could have held them at bay longer, until more officers from our partner agencies could arrive," he says.

Sund says during a conference call with several law enforcement officials at about 2:26 p.m., he asked the Pentagon to provide backup.

Senior Army official Lt. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, director of the Army Staff, said on the call he couldn't recommend that Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy authorize deployment, Sund and others on the call told the Post. Piatt reportedly said, "I don't like the visual of the National Guard standing a police line with the Capitol in the background," the Post reported.

It would be more than three hours before any National Guard troops arrived, well after the damage at the Capitol had been done.

In the interview, Sund also issued a warning to federal officials, saying "if they don't get their act together with physical security, it's going to happen again."

United States Congressional Represnetative Hakeem Jeffries says security at Capitol riots was a ‘failure operationally’

EXCLUSIVE: Democratic Caucus Chair Jeffries (D-NY) says Congress needs to hear from the Sergeant of Arms after deadly mob attack

April Ryan
 from the grio

January 7, 2021

 
 

(Photo: Getty Images)

Stepped-up security measures are in place on Capitol Hill, the day after a deadly attack on the United States Legislative Branch.

New York Congressman and Democratic Caucus Chair, Hakeem Jeffries, drove into work this morning eying a National Guard presence and noticed police were not only checking for ID’s but were also actively checking cars for bombs.

Around D.C. federal buildings that is a usual occurrence but today’s efforts are enhanced.

In an exclusive interview with theGrio, Jeffries said yesterday’s attack was “a failure operationally.”

Chairman of the Democratic Caucus Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks at a press conference on January 04, 2021 in Washington, DC. New representatives were sworn in on Sunday to serve in the 117th Congress. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

“We are going to have to hear from the Sergeant at Arms and the Chief of [U.S. Capitol] Police,” said Rep. Jeffries. Additionally, the congressman called out President Donald Trump for his part in inspiring the “seditious insurrection.”

With a bit of a history lesson, the Founding Fathers put three branches of government in place for the purpose of checks and balances, not to have one branch attack the other. That is what happened yesterday and it turned out to be deadly.

After violent protesters loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol today, a tactical team with ATF gathers in the Rotunda to provide security for the continuation of the joint session of the House and Senate to count the Electoral College votes cast in November’s election, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Congressional leaders clad in business attire for the day’s work had to barricade themselves in rooms or were whisked away to an undisclosed location seeking safety after President Trump directed his followers to attack the legislative branch of the U.S. government.

There was vandalism, aggression, intimidation and death. At issue, law enforcement and federal lawmakers saw it coming. So why did this security breach take them by surprise leaving the Capitol Hill police looking like the Keystone Cops?

California Congresswoman Maxine Waters told theGrio’s April Ryan on Tuesday that she warned about the expected security threat. 

“I brought it up in our Democratic Caucus meeting about the need for security,” Waters said, “because as I explained to them even as I was talking to them several days ago the Proud Boys were in town and the Oath Keepers were on their way along with other right-wing white supremacist groups, they had the chief of [Capitol] police call me to try to describe to me how they were going to provide security and how they [were] keenly aware of the potential for problems.”

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) speaks at a press conference on Capitol Hill January 31, 2017 in Washington, DC. Waters called for investigation into Trump administration ties to Russia. (Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

In that very telling phone interview, Waters shared a letter she and other members of Congress and staff received on Tuesday from the Sergeant at Arms. The letter read as follows:

As a result of the January 6 Joint session of congress members and their staff should expect demonstration activity and street closures to impact access to the U.S. Capitol complex.  The following information is being provided to assist your office in planning accordingly. Members and staff are strongly encouraged to arrive as early as possible on January 6th.  The Joint session will begin at 1 pm with demonstrations expected to occur early morning.  Therefore we recommend members and staff plan to arrive by 9 am.  The Rayburn, cannon and east house garages will be open for use.  Whenever possible members and staff who are authorized to park in the garages are encouraged to do so. All capitol plaza and drive permit holders are permitted to park in the Rayburn garage and will have access to the ground levels.  When moving to and from the house office buildings and the Capitol the Sergeant at Arms and the United States Capitol Police continue to encourage members and staff to use the underground access points and the Cannon and Rayburn tunnels in lieu of walking outside or driving to the Capitol. 

Congressman Jeffries affirmed that Congresswoman Waters addressed the issue with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at one of the most recent caucus meetings. Jefferies said it was before members and staff received the letter.

Jeffries said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the concern “seriously” as Waters was the “first person to raise the matter publicly.” However, at that time “the Speaker did not have clarity from the Sergeant at Arms.” The Capitol Hill police report to the Sergeant at Arms.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks about the late Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, R-La., during a news conference Wednesday Dec. 30, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Letlow died Tuesday after battling COVID-19. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

As members of the 117th Congress and their staff are back to work, concerns loom around issues of Hill security. Congressman Jefferies says he’s now thinking of the next major event and the issue of security, which is Inauguration Day when Joe Biden is officially sworn in as the 46th president of the United States.  

“How [do we] proceed with the inauguration but do it in a safe way?” said Jeffries.

As Trump loyalists terrorized the Capitol on Wednesday, they could be seen in their rampage jumping on the inauguration staging that is still under construction — an emblematic sign of the potential security risk on Jan. 20.

1 shot dead, Congress evacuated, National Guard activated after pro-Trump rioters storm Capitol --- A noose was erected outside and at least one improvised explosive device has been found on the grounds, law enforcement officials said

NBC News Link: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/we-will-never-concede-trump-baselessly-asserts-voter-fraud-speech-n1253011 ABC News Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/01/06/dc-protests-trump-rally-live-updates/

Live Coverage of the United States Capitol invasion by Trump Supporters

Protestors Storm Capitol; House and Senate in Recess

The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate met in a joint session to tally the results of the Electoral College ballots for president and vice president in the 2020 election.

Live Coverage link: https://www.c-span.org/video/?507663-1/joint-session-congress-counting-electoral-college-ballots

Washington DC area advised to stay home during the Trump Planned Protest Wednesday January 6th., 2021

 

Donnie Simpson launches his Weekend Radio Show, this Saturday January 9th

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Donnie Simpson Weekend Show

(Photo left: Donnie Simpson) 

Contact: Melody Talkington
972-523-8770
melody.talkington@reachmediainc.com

Reach Media is pleased to announce that The Donnie Simpson Weekend Show will launch this weekend, Saturday January 9th and Sunday January 10th and every weekend thereafter on nine affiliate markets: Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Richmond, and Washington, DC.

The Donnie Simpson Weekend Show is a two-hour weekend show that will include music and interviews from Donnie’s archives. Donnie Simpson along with co-host Tony Perkins, a radio and TV broadcaster and two-time Emmy award winner, are set to host a show centered around a specific music theme such as “Best Bands” or “Blue Eyed Soul Singers” to name a few. Show features will include Huggy Lowdown’s Celebrity Snitch where Huggy will “snitch” on the lighter side of the most pressing news and entertainment happenings of the day.

Over his career, Donnie Simpson has entertained listeners from WJLB in Detroit to WKYS and WMMJ in Washington, and as host of BET’s Video Soul. Simpson is considered one of the nation's first video jockeys. 

Last Year, Donnie was inducted into The Radio Hall of Fame Class of 2020.