A committee staffer requested the whistleblower if a lawyer from the police division might be current for his interview, in keeping with emails reviewed by POLITICO. The whistleblower stated he discovered the suggestion troubling, as he didn’t know the way the division realized he was slated to be interviewed. He stated he instructed the staffer he wouldn’t take part in any assembly the place division legal professionals had been current. Nobody from the division finally attended his interview, he stated.
“They’re not going to do an actual evaluate of the Capitol Police,” the whistleblower stated in an interview. “I believe it’s a chilling impact that they’re in mattress with the overall counsel.”
He stated he tried to steer the dialog with investigators to how the division dealt with intelligence, how its processes modified earlier than Jan. 6, and the way these adjustments associated to the assault on the Capitol. The investigators appeared uninterested, he stated.
The whistleblower added that division legal professionals are scheduled to attend future interviews the committee holds with division personnel.
“It’s apparent that they [USCP] wish to intimidate folks and nobody’s going to say something dangerous in regards to the division or something that went on with the legal professionals sitting within the room,” the whistleblower stated.
“It looks like the committee is carrying water for Capitol Police administration,” he added.
A spokesperson for the committee declined to touch upon the closed-door questioning.
“The Choose Committee doesn’t touch upon conversations with witnesses, however we now have the utmost respect for law enforcement officials who defended our democracy on Jan. 6 and different first responders, and we welcome any information and perception they will present,” the spokesperson stated.
And a spokesperson for the Capitol Police stated the division’s function within the assault was “exhaustedly examined by a number of evaluations.”
“Because of the exhausting work of our devoted workers, and assist from our Congressional stakeholders, the Division has already carried out greater than 50 optimistic adjustments, together with enhancing the best way analysts collect and distribute intelligence, increasing the coaching packages, and streamlining our main occasion planning,” the USCP spokesperson stated.
The whistleblower stated he had extra substantive interviews final week with different committees. Moreover, he despatched a scathing letter to congressional management in September describing the division’s response to the assault on the Capitol as a failure by senior leaders.
The Home choose committee is taking a broad take a look at the lead-up to the assault on the Capitol, in addition to the day’s occasions and their fallout. It has issued greater than two dozen subpoenas, focusing on former President Donald Trump’s White Home workers and organizers of the huge rally that preceded the riot. The panel faces vital time strain, since Republicans may take management of the Home after the midterm elections and shutter the probe.
The panel has proven it’s prepared to make use of hardball techniques. Final month, it urged the Justice Division to prosecute former White Home aide Steve Bannon for contempt of Congress. DOJ obliged, charging him with two misdemeanor counts on Friday.