A group of 36 former House lawmakers from both parties has issued an open letter calling for ethics investigations into sitting members of Congress “who played a role” in the events that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, arguing that elected officials involved with the riot “must be held accountable.”
The group is calling on sitting lawmakers in the lower chamber to “demand that the Office of Congressional Ethics thoroughly investigate” members linked to the Capitol riot. If necessary, the ex-lawmakers write, they also want the House to “exercise its disciplinary functions.”
“As is now clear, January 6th was only one event among many that together constituted an extraordinary campaign to overturn an election,” the former lawmakers wrote in the letter, which will be posted on Medium Saturday.
“The scale and audacity of the campaign is profoundly troubling. Among the most alarming findings is that various members of Congress participated in it,” they added.
The missive does not name specific lawmakers who should be subject to investigation, but it does reference a number of allegations that have been linked to members through media reporting and the probe conducted by the Jan. 6 select committee.
“We now know, for example, that sitting lawmakers corresponded and met with White House officials and allies to plot various prongs of the campaign, including to advocate that the president declare martial law; that states submit false certificates of electoral votes to Congress; that the vice president, in contravention of his constitutional duties, interfere with the counting of electoral votes; and that federal law enforcement authorities be enlisted to interfere with the election; among other startling facts. We also now know that various sitting lawmakers sought presidential pardons,” the letter reads.
At its hearing in June, the Jan. 6 select committee named six House Republican lawmakers who requested pardons or contacted officials regarding pardons after voting to overturn election results in states the day of the riot: Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.).
On Jan. 17, Greene texted Meadows to urge Trump to call for martial law.
“In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law. I don’t know on those things. I just wanted you to tell him,” Greene texted Meadows, according to multiple reports.
“These lawmakers stopped short of storming the Capitol themselves. But they shared a common goal with those who did: to prevent the lawful transfer of power for the first time in the Republic’s history,” the former lawmakers wrote. “As with those who stormed the Capitol, they must be held accountable.”
“We expect that Congress will and should be home to intense and passionate disagreement. But we did not expect that lawmakers who found their party on the losing side of a presidential election would take matters into their own hands,” they added. “Our ability to ensure that such efforts are not repeated rests upon accountability for unlawful and unethical behavior. No one—including members of Congress—is above the law.”
The letter comes just as the Jan. 6 select committee is set to hold its final public presentation and release its final report, as well as a list of criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.
