Small turns… and then come back.
About thirty American Democrats in Congress called for the opening, Wednesday, January 13, of an official investigation into "suspicious" tours that took place on Capitol Hill a day before the violent assault led by supporters of Donald Trump.
It was Mikie Sherrill, an elected Democrat in the House of Representatives, who was the first to report the suspicions of her camp about a potential collusion between Republicans in Congress and the rioters.
In a Facebook Live broadcast on Tuesday, this former soldier described as "reconnaissance" missions the visits organized "by Republican members of Congress" and calls for these elected officials, whom she does not name, "to be accountable" for the role they would have played in facilitating the assault on the Capitol.
"Suspicious" guided tours
Other Democrats echoed his accusations in an open letter, published Wednesday.
They are surprised by the "very large number of guided tours" while access to the Capitol, in this period of pandemic, is supposed to be restricted for health reasons.
"Several of us, and some of our assistants, served in the army and were trained to recognize suspicious activity," write these elected officials.
They asked Capitol Hill security teams to check surveillance cameras and coordinate with authorities investigating the Capitol assault to verify whether the footage does not identify rioters among visitors. January 5.
There is currently no concrete evidence to support these accusations, and Republicans have not failed to deny outright, suggesting that their fellow Democrats are flirting dangerously with conspiracy theory.
However, this request to open an investigation reinforces the impression of growing unease within the American political class.
"The idea of an insurgency is unprecedented in modern American history and the possibility that elected officials and allies within the Capitol could have participated in it contributes to the uncertainty and fears of the moment," summarizes the CNN channel.
These suspicions have also been nourished by certain voices within the hardliners of the Trumpian cause.
Ali Alexander, a very active and influential ultraconservative agitator on the Internet and who claims to be the chief organizer of the movement "Stop the Steal" ("stop the theft" supposedly of the presidential election by the Democrats) had thus quoted, in a video posted at the end of December, three Republicans who would have participated in the organization of the demonstration of January 6 in front of the Capitol.
Three "friends" of the "Stop the Steal" movement
Ali Alexander had designated Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs, two elected officials from Arizona, as well as Mo Brooks, Republican representative of Alabama, as his co-conspirators in the development of a plan "to put maximum pressure on elected officials who will vote [the certification of the results of the presidential election, editor's note] ".
This video, now erased from the Net, has triggered the fury of Democrats and political commentators, who see it as proof of a collusion between these three Republicans and the rioters.
"These three are going to need to find a lawyer very quickly," assured Charlie Dent, a former Republican elected representative from Pennsylvania who became a political analyst for CNN.
Questioned by the Washington Post, these Republicans who belong to the most pro-Trump fringe of the conservative party assured that they had never had contact with Ali Alexander.
Still, Andy Biggs had expressed his "full support" for the "Stop the Steal" movement in an audio recording Ali Alexander played to the crowd during a rally to prepare for the January 6 demonstration, a the local Arizona Republic newspaper reported Monday.
As for Paul Gosar, he "quoted Ali Alexander more than twenty times in his tweets since the election [of November 6]", calculated CNN.
I am proceeding with my objections on behalf of Arizona with @tedcruz and @RepAndyBiggsAZ
Leftist violence — or any violence— will not deter our mission for truth and transparency.
The people need and deserve the truth.
# StopTheSteaI2021 @ali @NBCNews @michellemalkin
- Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) January 7, 2021
But this is more evidence of ideological proximity than of collusion to organize the attack on one of the hotspots of American democracy.
To know what it really is, we will probably have to wait for the conclusions of the multiple investigations that have been launched to identify those responsible for the assault and their supporters.
Two procedures in particular could provide a clearer picture.
The Government Accountability Office, the Congressional investigative office, has announced it is looking into the role elected officials may have had "in inciting rioters to act," while the Capitol Inspector General of Police has opened a broad investigation to determine how the angry mob was able to take possession of the building so easily.
As of yet, there is no concrete evidence to link members of Congress to the tragic events of January 6, investigators told The Washington Post.
But they added that they took the accusations made by Democrats, especially regarding "suspicious tours" very seriously.
It must be said that the investigators already have a lot to do with another very sensitive file: the assistance provided to the rioters by police officers from the Capitol.
Selfies posted by assailants with law enforcement officials during the attack suggested that they did not only have enemies in the police ranks that day.
Three officers present at the Capitol on January 6 have already been suspended from their duties and 17 others are the subject of an investigation by the Department of Justice, specifies the New York Times.
While investigations conclude that Republican members of Congress also aided the rioters, Democrats have already warned that they "will seek to impose adequate sanctions, including expulsion from Congress and a ban from holding elected office for the rest of their lives, "said Jason Crow, Democratic Representative from Colorado.
The assault on Capitol Hill certainly has not finished shaking Washington and the American political landscape.
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