Hawley Demands Jan. 6 Investigator Appointed By Pelosi Be Removed For Suggesting Some Capitol Police May Have Helped Rioters

Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who was recently selected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to lead a review of Capitol security systems following the Jan. 6 breach, has since come under fire for partisan political statements.

In a Jan. 8 interview with local news, referencing law enforcement officials tasked with guarding the Capitol, Honore said, “I’ve just never seen so much incompetence. So they’re either that stupid or ignorant or complicit. I think they were complicit.”

Honore also called out the police chief and said that it was concerning “that he did not have sufficient police on hand to protect the Capitol, which has led me to believe that there was some complicity on behalf of the Capitol Police, and that will come out in the investigation. I hope I’m wrong.”

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) has now demanded that he be removed for the statements and asked the former Police Chief Steven Sund if he was complicit at Senate hearing today.

“Absolutely not, I have heard those comments as well and I think it’s disrespectful to myself and the members of the Capitol Police department,” Sund responded.

Today, Capitol Police responded to Nancy Pelosi’s decision to put a partisan in charge of a security review from Jan 6 – an individual who has suggested Capitol Police helped the rioters. Russel Honore should be removed pic.twitter.com/V5w1EICOML

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) February 23, 2021

From the Washington Examiner:

“I disagree with what the general said,” former Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger said. “There’s … people who put themselves in very much danger on that day, and saying something like that is just not in good taste.”

Sund hinted that he did not approve of Honore heading the review, again saying that his comments were “highly disrespectful.”

“I welcome and I look forward to an after-action that will move this agency forward, move our partnership with the federal agencies forward. But it has to be done in an unbiased fashion,” Sund said.L

Liberals and Democrats are outraged and contributing editor for The Atlantic, Norman Ornstein, suggested “Josh Hawley is a monster. That he is participating in a hearing on the police response to the insurrection he helped incite is a disgrace.”

Josh Hawley is a monster. That he is participating in a hearing on the police response to the insurrection he helped incite is a disgrace.

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) February 23, 2021