Rep. Rodney Davis says he believes security posture of Capitol Police has not been fixed year after tragic violence.
By John
Solomon
Updated: January 6, 2022 - 10:52pm
The top Republican on the House committee that oversees U.S. Capitol security is blasting Speaker Nancy Pelosi for refusing to release key evidence showing the security planning prior to the Jan. 6 riots and is warning that the police force that protects lawmakers has not reformed itself enough to avoid another tragedy.
"We
know there were intelligence analysis failures at the Capitol Police,"
Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) told the John Solomon Reports podcast during an
interview Thursday on the one-year anniversary of the Capitol riots. And frankly,
John, I don't think those have been corrected yet.
"Our
job is to protect the Capitol, and they're making the same bad decisions,"
he said.
Capitol Police have said they have implemented numerous reforms
since last year's riots and have fundamentally changed the way they evaluate
security threats, but not all lawmakers are convinced enough change has been
made.
Davis has twice been at the center of harrowing security
incidents involving Congress, the riot last year and the summer 2017 shooting
when he scrambled to safety after a Bernie Sanders-inspired activist opened
fire on lawmakers practicing for the annual congressional baseball game. The
latter incident, deemed an act of terrorism, left Rep. Steve Scalise seriously
wounded and was ended when Capitol Police officer killed the suspect after a
long gun battle.
Davis, the ranking Republican on the House Administration
Committee, which oversees Capitol security, said lawmakers are frustrated that
Pelosi has blocked the release of information — including contemporaneous
communications — showing what the Capitol Police and the House Sergeant at Arms
discussed as security needs before a planned Jan. 6, 2021 protest by pro-Trump
supporters that eventually spiraled out of control into the riots.
The former Capitol Police chief, Steven Sund, has said he
requested National Guard be sent ahead of time to assist his force but was told
the request was rejected for reasons of "optics." The Trump
administration had offered to activate the Guard days before the riots.
Another official disputed the ex-chief's account, but the
documents showing what actually transpired between them have been blocked from
release by Pelosi, even as the Democrat-led Jan. 6 Select Committee demands
documents and testimonies from former Trump officials about the Jan. 6 tragedy.
"They will not comply and give that info to us," Davis
told Just the News. "At a time when the Speaker through this sham Select
Committee is asking and getting voluntarily thousands of communications from
people who are no longer employed by government, she is denying that committee
of jurisdiction access to government communications. What is she hiding?
"All we ever asked for is we want communications leading up
to and on Jan. 6, we want to be preserved, we want to be turned over to us,
because my job, my job is to make sure that the Capitol is secure. And it's
laughable to think that that's not germane to making sure that we don't make
those same mistakes again."
Davis said he is determined to get the withheld documents, and
his best chance may be if Republicans win control of Congress in the November
elections.
"I fully expect to be chairman when we take the majority.
And I guarantee you, we will get these communications," he said. "But
by then, it's two years past the time when the American people should have seen
what did, or in many cases, did not happen to prepare our cops and our security
apparatus prior to January 6."
Davis also said lawmakers have not been able to get an
explanation for why a security request was made Jan. 5, 2021 to remove bike
racks from the Capitol grounds, another tantalizing sign that officials may
have feared violence was coming.
Davis sent a letter renewing his request for the withheld memos
that lay out the biggest unanswered questions about security lapses before and
during the Jan. 6 attack. They include:
- Why
was then-Chief Sund's Jan. 4 request for National Guard support denied?
- Did
then-Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving get permission or instruction from
Pelosi's office on Jan. 4, 2021 prior to denying Chief Sund's request for
the National Guard?
- What
conversations did the Speaker's office have with and what
guidance did it provide to the Sergeant at Arms leading up to Jan. 6
specific to the security posture of the Capitol?
- What
conversations did Pelosi's office have during the attack on the Capitol,
and what response did you give security officials on January 6 when Chief
Sund requested National Guard support that required your approval?
- Why
are House Officers refusing to comply with preservation and production
request to turn over requested materials relevant to the events of Jan. 6?
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