House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continues to use the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6 as a political weapon against the Republican Party. She's made it clear she has no interest in allowing all of the facts about that day to get in the way of her narrative.
Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks, who was kicked off of the January 6th commission by Pelosi last week, is giving voice to Capitol Police Officers who want to adequately protect members of Congress in the future by thoroughly investigating past failures.
"The police response to January 6th represents a disastrous collapse of leadership that was not simply an aberration confirmed to one day. It was months and years in the making. To fully understand why our officers felt so abandoned, requires an understanding of how they came to be left uninformed and lacking in defenses when it mattered most - when an attack on the U.S. Capitol was fully realized," United States Capitol Police Labor Committee Chairman Gus Papathanasiou released in a statement and highlighted by Banks. "Most importantly, we arrived at that position of vulnerability because the voices of the rank-and-file-officers had been ignored for years. There was no collaboration from Capitol Police leaders with the frontline officer, instead it was a top-down approach that left a void of information and planning. As an officer working that day, I can attest, there was NO plan, and certainly no contingency plans by the Chiefs. That lack of leadership had traffic consequences."
"The Union asks that the Committee listen to the active-duty police officers who have been chosen by the rank and file to represent them," he continued.
Here’s the story they didn’t want told: The Capitol Police Union Chairman Gus Papathanasiou blames 1/6 on a “disastrous collapse of leadership” that was “months and years in the making” because “the voices of the rank-and-file-officers had been ignored for years.” pic.twitter.com/DiCQzYUfUj
— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) July 28, 2021
Banks expanded on the situation during an interview with Fox News Wednesday night.
This isn't a bipartisan committee. There is no minority view point represented.
— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) July 28, 2021
Pelosi handpicked Republicans who would carefully read her script.
Pelosi Republicans want Democrats to remain in control. pic.twitter.com/T7Mriqxviy