Rep. Zoe Lofgren Releases Scathing Social Media Report On Republicans’ Involvement In Capitol Riot

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California), chair of the House Administration Committee, has released a report documenting social media posts by GOP politicians who tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. The report, which includes a compilation of public posts from November 2020 to January 2021, is nearly 2,000-pages long.

This document has been released at a time when there is growing suspicion as to whether or not lawmakers, either knowingly or unknowingly, aided the rioters on Jan. 6. Federal investigators are currently looking into records of communication between Congress members and insurrectionists.

Lofgren remarked on the need for an acknowledgment of responsibility on the part of Congress members who potentially were involved in the attack. “Any appropriate disciplinary action is a matter not only of the Constitution and law, but also of fact. Many of former President Trump’s false statements were made in very public settings. Had Members made similar public statements in the weeks and months before the January 6th attack? Statements which are readily available in the public arena may be part of any consideration of Congress’ constitutional prerogatives and responsibilities. Accordingly, I asked my staff to take a quick look at public social media posts of Members who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election.”

Many of Lofgren’s sentiments are shared by fellow Democrats in Washington. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has stated that “the enemy is within” the House, when discussing the behavior of some of her Republican colleagues.

In the foreword to her report, Lofgren cited the Article of Trump’s second Impeachment and discussed Congress members’ involvement in the attacks as a threat to democratic government. “Like former President Trump, any elected Member of Congress who aided and abetted the insurrection or incited the attack seriously threatened our democratic government,” the report said. “They would have betrayed their oath of office and would be implicated in the same constitutional provision cited in the Article of Impeachment. That provision prohibits any person who has previously taken an oath as a member of Congress to support the Constitution but subsequently engaged in insurrection or rebellion from serving in Congress.”

Among the many posts collected in Lofgren’s report are those of Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Arizona), who urged Trump supporters to “hold the line,” just days before the Jan. 6 riots. In a separate post, Gosar stated, “sedition and treason for stealing votes is appropriate.”

Article by Elizabeth Letsou