Earlier today, about two dozen House Republicans stormed a closed deposition hearing with Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Laura Cooper. As a reminder, this hearing was not closed to Republicans, just to anyone not on the committees involved. You might think these lawmakers, then, would choose to just confer with their Republican colleagues, but no. They wanted the spectacle and they wanted to disrupt the process.
Not only did the lawmakers crash a hearing they weren’t allowed to be in, but many appeared (based on the fact that they were aggressively tweeting) to have brought their cell phones into the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities. That might sound like a technicality, but it’s a BIG deal. I posted part of a thread explaining that earlier, but if you want to know exactly how that’s severely compromising our national security, check that out here.
So when a group of about 25 nearly entirely white men storm a private and protected Congressional hearing, with totally hackable devices in hand, it raises the question: Why the hell weren’t they removed and arrested by Capitol Police?
It’s a fair question since, as many on Twitter were quick to point out, those officers (who were reportedly present today) have been known to arrest protesters and anyone else not being where they’re supposed to be or doing what they’re supposed to do in regard to Congressional hearings.
The protesters arrested around Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing are an especially recent memory for many.
See all these Capitol Police- ready to arrest us for peacefully protesting during the Kavanaugh hearings. Wtf are they??? pic.twitter.com/OZQBNvloBm
— andrea Kline (@andreathekline) October 23, 2019
I don’t have an answer for why there were no arrests made today. A lot of people (myself included) are calling Capitol Police and being forwarded to the Public Information office, where I assume the voicemails are piling up. If I get a response to mine, I’ll update here.
I called the Capitol Police 1(202) 224-0908 (non emergency #). I asked the person who answered,”Why are protesters in wheelchairs dragged out and arrested, but Republicans in a SCIF with cell phones, are not?” She transferred me to voicemail where I left the same question.
— Noel (@Frogerta) October 23, 2019
Just called the Capitol Police to ask why the @housegop members were not removed or arrested. They could not answer my question. Then called my Congressman, Ken Calvert (R-CA), to demand that he put out a statement condemning this lawlessness.
— Jeff Sweetman (@sweetjj4) October 23, 2019
Call Capitol Police at (202) 224‐0908 to let them know ur not happy with “Matt Gaetz” and the “House Republicans” storming into the “SCIF” during “Laura Cooper” testimony with no consequences. They are obstructing justice in real-time. They are breaking the law. We demand action! https://t.co/BHhDF2z8bF
— I,Too, Am America (@ynotjones) October 23, 2019
(image: Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images)
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