The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation on Tuesday bestowing the Gold Medal — the highest congressional honor — on all law enforcement officers who responded to the violent seditious insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. House Passes Bill Awarding Gold Medal To All Officers Who Responded To Capitol Riot:
It was the second time that House lawmakers have approved such a bill. In March, the House passed similar legislation to award the Gold Medal to the U.S. Capitol Police and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department for responding to the insurrection. The legislation ultimately stalled in the Senate, which, in a separate move, chose only to grant the medal to Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman.
Senators voted unanimously in February to give the honor to Goodman, who courageously lured a group of insurrectionists away from the entrance to the Senate on Jan. 6. But the chamber initially refused to extend the honor to the other officers who responded to the violence that day ― despite the many examples of heroism and bravery among them.
According to reports, however, House lawmakers have managed to strike a deal with their Senate colleagues to award the Gold Medal to not just Goodman but all officers who responded to the riot.
On Tuesday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced legislation mirroring the bill that was passed in the House, The Washington Post reported, noting that Senate leaders had finally given in to the pressure of their House colleagues after “weeks of private deliberations.”
The House bill was approved by 406 lawmakers, but opposed by 21 Republicans in the Sedition Caucus. 21 House Republicans vote against awarding Congressional Gold Medal to all police officers who responded on Jan. 6:
[T]he 21 Republicans who voted “no” drew immediate condemnation from some of their colleagues, and the vote underscored the lingering tensions in Congress amid efforts by some GOP lawmakers to whitewash the events of that day.
Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.) called the “no” votes “a sad commentary on the @HouseGOP,” while Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) declared, “How you can vote no to this is beyond me.”
“Then again, denying an insurrection is as well,” Kinzinger, a vocal critic of former president Donald Trump, said in a tweet. “To the brave Capitol (and DC metro PD) thank you. To the 21: they will continue to defend your right to vote no anyway.”
In an interview on CNN Tuesday night, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) called the 21 “no” votes “a new low for this crowd.”
“They voted to overturn an election. But in their vote today, they kind of sealed the deal of basically affiliating with the mob,” Connolly said. “They now are part of the insurrectionist mob. They brought enormous disrepute and dishonor on themselves in not honoring the brave men and women who defended the Capitol of the United States — everybody in it, but also defending the symbol of democracy in the world, not just here in the United States.”
In March, when an initial version of the legislation was brought to the House floor, a dozen Republicans voted against the measure. Many of those who voted “no” said they objected to the use of the term “insurrectionists” in the resolution.
The “Dirty Dozen” Sedition Caucus lawmakers included Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Andy Harris (Md.), Lance Gooden (Tex.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Louie Gohmert (Tex.), Michael Cloud (Tex.), Andrew S. Clyde (Ga.), Greg Steube (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.) and John Rose (Tenn.).
On Tuesday, the number of opposing votes grew, with 10 more House Republicans switching their votes from “yes” to “no.”
The additional “Sedition Caucus” lawmakers are Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Barry Moore (Ala.), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Matthew M. Rosendale (Mont.), Chip Roy (Tex.), Paul A. Gosar (Ariz.), Warren Davidson (Ohio), Scott Perry (Pa.), Jody Hice (Ga.) and Mary Miller (Ill.).
No surprise there. Arizona Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar implicated by activist in Capitol insurrection. Reps. Biggs and Gosar gave aid and comfort to the violent seditious “insurrectionists.” They should already have been expelled from Congress.
21 Republican members of the Sedition Caucus failed to “back the blue” and stood with the enemies of democracy, the violent seditious insurrectionists who attacked police officers defending the Capitol on January 6. Each of them should be expelled from Congress.
Arizona’s greatest embarrassment as a member of Congress, Rep. Paul Gosar, was particularly over-the-top on Tuesday. Paul Gosar demands name of Capitol officer who killed rioter Ashli Babbitt, saying she was ‘executed’:
In a hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) abruptly turned his questions for FBI Director Christopher A. Wray toward the Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran who tried to leap through a window during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Gosar demanded to know why the FBI hasn’t disclosed the name of the officer, who was cleared of wrongdoing by prosecutors in April.
“It’s disturbing,” Gosar told Wray, while claiming Babbitt was “executed.” “The Capitol Police officer that did that shooting appeared to be hiding, lying in wait and then gave no warning before killing her.”
Just to be clear: Ashli Babbitt is no “patriot.” She dishonored her prior military service by becoming a QAnon conspiracy cultist and domestic terrorist who stormed the Capitol on January 6. Babbitt was not “executed” – the MAGA/QAnon mob was there to do that to the Vice President and members of Congress – she was shot by an officer in the line of duty, defending the Speaker’s Lobby entry to the House of Representatives, when she tried to climb through a broken window in the door. She was a member of the violent MAGA/QAnon insurrectionist mob, all of whom are seditious traitors to their country. Capitol Police showed immense restraint in shooting only one person that day, far more restraint than I would have ever exercised.
Gosar’s comments, which came the same day he joined 20 other House Republicans in voting against awarding Congressional Gold Medals to the officers who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6, have gone viral on social mediaand drawn swift rebukes from critics and some colleagues who accused him of downplaying the severity of the insurrection.
On January 6, as the violent mob advanced on the House chamber, I was standing near @RepGosar and helped him open his gas mask. The Capitol Police led us to safety. It is disgusting and despicable to see Gosar lie about that day and smear the men and women who defended us. https://t.co/GKsnekHBKx
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) June 16, 2021
Before the insurrection [he helped to incite], Gosar actively promoted Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud. After lawsuits challenging the 2020 presidential election results failed to advance, Gosar in December amplified falsehoods that 20,000 ballots had been changed in favor of Joe Biden.
On Jan. 6, he was among the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the election results. Some Democrats also urged an investigation into Gosar’s role in inciting the insurrection.
Gosar’s vote on Tuesday and his comments during the House committee hearing only added to the congressman’s record of sympathizing with the pro-Trump insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol in an attempt to interfere with the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential win.
In House hearings since the insurrection, Gosar has previously criticized the Capitol Police officer who killed Babbitt. Video from the scene shows the officer shot Babbitt as she tried to climb through one of the doors to the Speaker’s Lobby, as other rioters smashed windows.
Federal prosecutors in April cleared the officer of wrongdoing, saying the shooting was reasonable, as the officer was acting in self-defense or in defense of members of Congress. Moreover, an attorney for the officer said they identified themselves as other officers warned rioters not to breach the doors.
During a hearing in May, Gosar demanded that acting U.S. attorney general Jeffrey Rosen identify the officer, asking, “Who executed Ashli Babbitt?”
Rosen replied that did he not want to get into “the specific facts of investigations.”
On Tuesday, Gosar continued a similar questioning to Wray. The Arizona congressman asked the FBI director if he knew the identity of the officer who shot Babbitt.
Gosar also asked why the officer has not yet been named, “when police officers around the country are routinely identified after a shooting.”
Wray said he could not comment on the case, as the FBI has not been directly involved in it. But The Post reported that while D.C. police officers are required by law to release the names of officers involved in serious use of force, the law does not apply to Capitol Police officers.
Lawyers representing the officer are not disclosing his name because he has “faced death threats,” The Post reported.
So this piece of shit Paul Gosar and his seditious insurrectionist friends already know the officer’s name, if they have been making death threats.
Unbelievably, Ethics panel declines to investigate Rep. Paul Gosar over claim he sparked Jan. 6 riot:
The House Ethics Committee has declined to investigate whether Rep. Paul Gosar helped instigate the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, as a Democratic colleague had suggested in her request for a probe.
Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., told Gosar in a private letter dated June 11 that Gosar publicly shared Tuesday that the Ethics Committee he chairs would not be forming a special panel to look into the matter.
The failure to hold members of Congress accountable for sedition and giving aid and comfort to a violent insurrection will only encourage them in their continuing and ongoing insurrection against the government. They will do it again.
UPDATE:
Frank Figliuzzi: Vladimir Putin and the GOP are pushing the exact same message on the 16 insurrection. pic.twitter.com/FTghhtwnW5
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) June 16, 2021
Frank Figliuzzi: The GOP and Vladimir Putin Are Pushing the Exact Same Message on 1/6 Insurrection:
“I can’t, from the national security perspective can’t let the opportunity go to not point out that, as recently as today, Vladimir Putin at his press conference regurgitated the very same message that we have U.S. Congressmen saying, which is that the people that breached the security at the Capitol were simply looking for their political voice. They were simply looking for some political solutions. Vladimir Putin said that today at his press conference and these members of congress who refuse to honor the bravery of the Capitol police officers, who protected those members of congress are echoing the same thing as Putin.”
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Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has called out Republicans who are now downplaying the riot at the U.S. Capitol earlier this year, recalling the fear his GOP colleagues felt as a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the building. “Congressman Reveals True Terror Of Republicans Now Downplaying Capitol Riot”, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ruben-gallego-republican-terror-riot_n_60cc4f5be4b0dd017425d217
“It’s true some GOP members of Congress who are treating Capitol Police like shit were the most scared on the floor,” Gallego tweeted Thursday.
Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) “took apart a hand sanitizer station to make into a club,” Gallego recalled. Hice has since claimed that Trump supporters were the real victims of the riot.
GOP Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs from Arizona “were the first to leave the floor,” Gallego wrote. Gosar has since referred to the insurrections as “peaceful patriots.”
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), meanwhile, was “screaming like a banshee” as the mob raided Congress, according to Gallego. Clyde was also caught on camera desperately trying to barricade a door to the House gallery.
Paul Gosar’s siblings still despise him. What the hell is wrong with the voters of CD 4 who continue to vote for this truly vile individual?
“GOP Lawmaker’s Sister Says He’s ‘Absolutely’ Responsible For Capitol Riot”, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gop-rep-paul-gosar-sister-capitol-riot-blame_n_60cb2b7ee4b0b0e834229393
Rep. Paul Gosar’s sister delivered a blistering critique of her sibling on Wednesday, saying she believed the Arizona Republican was “absolutely” responsible for inciting the deadly riot at U.S. Capitol earlier this year.
Jennifer Gosar told CNN’s Anderson Cooper she was “stunned at the brazenness” of Republicans, including her brother, who are currently trying to “erase what is a very documented insurrection.”
“To know my brother is a part of it is not surprising to me,” Gosar said. “But it intensifies the frustration about the erasure they are trying to enact with us as citizens and society at the moment.”
Cooper asked Gosar if she stood by her previous statement that “there is no one member of Congress more responsible for the attack on the Capitol than” her brother. She made the claim in an attack ad that aired on Fox News.
“Absolutely,” she replied. “I have no evidence to the contrary, and it would be at least a requirement of our congressional body, the Senate and the House, to investigate that as they have tried but the Senate has filibustered.”
“I do still believe my brother was an organizer of, or part organizer of, [the riot],” she added. “And I have no evidence to the contrary to suggest anything different.”
People who have donated to the lawmaker should be held accountable “for not speaking up and not putting on pressure to investigate what was a criminal act,” Jennifer Gosar said.
“GOP congressman’s brothers slam his ‘despicable comments and disgraceful conduct’ in blistering CNN interview”, https://www.rawstory.com/paul-gosar-2653414880/
On CNN Thursday, two brothers of Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), David and Tim Gosar, appeared on air to denounce his claims that Capitol Police “executed” rioter Ashli Babbitt, and extend their support to law enforcement who defended Congress from the attackers on January 6.
“First off, I’d like to thank Officer Fanone for his, and the other Capitol Hill police officers for their, bravery and heroism on that day and on behalf of the actual sane members of our family, which is everyone but Paul,” said David Gosar. “We apologize on behalf of our family to him for his despicable comments and disgraceful behavior through this whole incident.”
“What he’s doing, John, I think you’re aware of this is, he’s raising money,” said David Gosar. “He’s saying outrageous things just like, you know, Marjorie “Traitor” Greene does, and there’s the fringe element in this country which amounts to millions and millions of people who see that and applaud that because they get their, news as Officer Fanone indicated, through Fox and Facebook and you know, they applaud that and they donate money to him and that’s what he’s doing.”
“This is what’s going on with Paul,” said David Gosar. “He talks himself into these positions. You know, because it benefits Paul. That’s what’s going on. You repeat the lie to yourself and keep repeating it … if you notice, their whole strategy now is just to keep throwing up different conspiracy theories as a way of confusing people. So this is a strategy. That they are employing and Paul is part of that. They must get their marching orders every day through these talking points from wherever they come from and he just marches along with that. But that’s what’s going on.”
Politico reports, “GOP hands Dems a new line of attack: They’re for ‘Trump over the cops'”, https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/17/defund-vs-defend-police-494931
In the aftermath of the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the GOP’s love for law enforcement — a longtime hallmark of the party — is being called into question as some members on the right continue to whitewash the insurrection and even foist blame on the police officers who protected lawmakers that day.
Democrats are ramping up attacks on Republicans who refused to investigate the riots or formally honor the cops who responded, some of whom were tasered, maced and beaten with flag poles by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Members of President Joe Biden’s party are not only painting their colleagues across the aisle as disrespectful of law enforcement, but also arguing that the GOP’s unflinching loyalty to Trump has compromised its core values.
That dynamic was on full display in the Capitol Wednesday as D.C. police officer Michael Fanone, who suffered a concussion and heart attack while fending off the Jan. 6 mob, visited the Hill seeking meetings with the 21 House Republicans who voted against a bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to police officers for their service during the attack. Fanone says freshman Rep. Andrew Clyde — the Georgia Republican who recently downplayed the insurrection by comparing it to a ”normal tourist visit” — refused to shake his hand after the officer introduced himself in an elevator.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), one of the House’s impeachment managers during Trump’s second trial, was quick to seize on the interaction, tweeting “that to honor Trump, @housegop will dishonor the police.”
“It’s hard to accuse Democrats of defunding the police when you are dishonoring the police,” Swalwell said in an interview. “It makes me wonder: Was there prior support [in the GOP] for law enforcement? Or just phony political pandering? Because when the rubber meets the road, they’re choosing Trump over the cops.”