House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D. SC) on Sunday said that he believes last Wednesday’s Capitol rioters may have had inside information, because they somehow found his office despite there being no sign on the door indicating it is his.
“I have an unmarked office that you have got to know exactly where it is.”
Clyburn added that he spends “most of his time” in that office instead of his second one, which is marked as his.
“They didn’t go to where my name was. They went where I usually hang out. That to me indicates that something untoward may have been going on.”
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Clyburn had previously told CBS News that he believed there were people in the Capitol building who were “complicit” in helping the armed, pro-Trump mob.
“They knew where to go. I’ve been told … by some other Congress people that their staff are saying that they saw people being allowed into the building through side doors. Who opened those side doors for these protesters, or I call them these mobsters, to come into the building, not through the main entrance where magnetometers are but through side doors? Yes, somebody on the inside of those buildings were complicit in this.”
Clyburn also noted that something felt “amiss” when he came to work at the Capitol Wednesday to start the process of certifying Joe Biden’s presidential election victory:
“There were no security people on the steps. They were all out in a place which I thought gave low security.”
On Friday, Washington’s top prosecutor hinted that Donald Trump, his eldest son Donald Trump Jr. and personal attorney Rudy Giuliani may be investigated and charged for their roles in inciting a violent mob or pro-Trump supporters that stormed the U.S. Capitol.
While appearing on “Good Morning America,” DC Attorney General Karl Racine laid the blame for the riot directly at the feet of Donald Trump and his fiery speech to supporters just before they marched to Congress.
“I think the question is, how far up does it go? Clearly, the Capitol was ground central in all of this mob’s behavior,” Racine stated.
“Donald Trump Jr., Giuliani, even the president of the United States, we’re calling on their supporters and hate groups to go to the Capitol and in the words of Rudy Giuliani ‘exercise combat justice,’” Racine added.
“We’re going to investigate not only the mobsters but also those who invited the violence.”
The Department of Justice has not ruled out bringing charges against Donald Trump, who again be a private citizen on January 20.
On Thursday, Michael Sherwin, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, told reporters that his office would look at “anyone involved in the riot who broke the law.”
“We are looking at all actors here. Was there a command and control? Were there others that may be assisted or facilitated or obviously played some ancillary role in this?” Sherwin stated.
“Anyone that had a role, and the evidence fits the elements of a crime, they’re going to be charged,” he added.
One reporter asked Sherwin if that included Donald Trump and he responded by saying, “I don’t want to sound like a broken record. We’re looking at all actors here.”
During the chaotic riot, five people were killed including a Capitol Police Officer.
Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Rudy Giuliani, as well as other Trump surrogates, riled up supporters at a “Stop the Steal” rally held just before the riots began.
Trump urged his supporters to march to Congress outside the White House before the riots, telling them the election had been stolen and to never give up. Rudy Giuliani went as far as to call for a “trial by combat” over the election results.
Trump’s comments and the resulting chaos has caused a huge fallout inside the White House with several cabinet members resigning because of the riot.
Calls continue to mount for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office.
Nancy Pelosi announced that Democrats would be filing articles of impeachment against Trump on Monday.
“I join the Senate Democratic leader is calling on the vice president to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th amendment,” Pelosi told reporters on Thursday at the Capitol, just one day after the building was stormed by pro-Trump supporters.
“If the Vice President and Cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment. That is the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus,” Pelosi added.
President-elect Joe Biden has been certified as the next president of the U.S., but his term does not begin until January 20.
Pelosi is not alone in her calls to have Trump removed immediately from the Oval Office. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is also calling for Trump’s removal as well.
Schumer told reports in New York that he would fully support Pelosi initiating a fast-track impeachment.
