Nunes, McCarthy are scamming America about the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol

On Feb. 15, barely a month after Americans witnessed broadcasts of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in which demonstrators busted their way into the halls of Congress, Rep. Devin Nunes of Tulare figured out who was to blame: Nancy Pelosi.

The San Francisco Democrat is one of Nunes’ favorite targets, and this would prove no different. The Republican joined three other GOP colleagues in sending a letter to Pelosi, the House speaker, and railing that she was largely responsible for security breakdowns that allowed the rioters to get into the Capitol.

Opinion

Fast forward to last week: The House GOP leader, Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, did not place responsibility for the breaching of the Capitol on former President Trump and his incendiary words at a rally before the rioting. Nor did McCarthy even fault the rioters.

As reported in The New York Times, McCarthy said this: “If there is a responsibility for this Capitol, on this side, it rests with the speaker.”

Both Nunes and McCarthy are clearly wrong, and their attempts to deflect blame reflect a pathetic push by GOP members in Congress to revise the narrative of what happened on Jan. 6.

Some of those efforts at disinformation have been so clumsy that they are laughable.

On Jan. 6, Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia helped to barricade a door into the House gallery as rioters were rushing toward the chamber. But in May he downplayed what had occurred, likening it to a “normal tourist visit.”

The attempts of Nunes and McCarthy to deflect responsibility from where it belongs — Trump’s desperate attempts to thwart Congress’ certification of the Electoral College results of the November presidential election — are a bit more sophisticated, but no less worse.

If a congressional representative cannot agree on the straight-up truth of what happened that fateful day, the question then is whether that person remains qualified to serve.

Capitol security

The blame-shifting made in the letter from Nunes and his GOP colleagues and then in McCarthy’s statement were factually incorrect.

For one thing, Pelosi does not have sole responsibility for security at the Capitol. GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, then the Senate majority leader, was in charge of his side. Interestingly, neither Nunes nor McCarthy lay blame on McConnell for security breaches.

Working for the House and Senate are sergeants at arms who manage the daily details of security.

There also is the Capitol Police force, which has as its mission the protection of the government grounds and buildings.

Nunes’ letter claimed Pelosi had rejected an advance request by Capitol Police for National Guard troops for Jan. 6. But that request was handled by the House sergeant at arms, and never reached Pelosi’s desk.

In fact, as the insurrection began, the sergeant at arms did take the request for troops to Pelosi’s office. It took her only three minutes to approve it, records show.

Result of rioting

It is good to remember what happened on Jan. 6: Hordes of insurrectionists broke into the Capitol and sent lawmakers rushing for their lives.

The resulting riot left one police officer and four others dead, 140 officers injured, and members of Congress holed up for hours in secure locations. Four of the Capitol police officers testified before a congressional panel recently about the horrific beatings, taunts and other distress they endured as they held the demonstrators back from the House and Senate.

More than 500 people have been charged for participating in the rioting.

Normal tourist visit? Pelosi’s fault?

For his part, Trump has claimed that members of antifa and Black Lives Matter were behind the insurrection. There has been no evidence to reflect that. But members of white supremacist groups like the Proud Boys took part in the rioting and have been charged.

If Nunes was serious about trying to ensure security for the Capitol so an insurrection never again threatens representatives and senators, he would work with Pelosi on a bipartisan basis toward that end.

And if McCarthy really cared about what happened on Jan. 6, he would have worked with the House speaker in good faith to create a special bipartisan, independent commission to investigate the insurrection. Instead, that idea died when he refused to support it. Pelosi instead convened a select committee and invited McCarthy to appoint Republican representatives. He then appointed GOP members who were openly contemptuous of Pelosi and what had happened that day, then got irate when Pelosi disqualified them from serving. It is clear McCarthy never intended for Republicans to have a role on the panel.

In the immediate aftermath of the rioting, McCarthy was angry at Trump for his role in inciting it. But as The Times reports, “in the months since, that resolve has given way to an out-and-out intent to bury the attack.”

Nunes recently gave an interview to Fox News about the infrastructure bill, during which he complained about dysfunction in the House and how that is also Pelosi’s fault. “Pelosi has managed to completely burn down this institution,” Nunes said.

Wrong. Nunes and McCarthy set fire to American democracy with disinformation and lies.