What did Raskin and Schumer know - and when did they know it?

OPINION:

America needs answers about the Capitol Hill January 6th riot.

Democrats are abruptly now determined to make sure those answers are not forthcoming.

To borrow from the late Tennessee Senator Howard Baker’s famous Watergate question of President Richard Nixon: What did Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin and Senate Majority Leader know - and when did they know it?

That famous question, now applied to Mr. Raskin, Mr. Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, may be precisely the reason that Senate Democrats abruptly changed their mind about calling witnesses in the impeachment trial. “You open up Pandora’s box if you call one witness,” warned South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. Suddenly the light went on for Democrats, and they stopped supporting calling witnesses. If no witnesses - there will be no need for answers.

So has one to ask the obvious? Why the Democrats’ sudden cave? What do they have to be afraid of? 

As the impeachment trial in the Senate proceeded, more and more stories appeared along the lines of this January 10th story from The Washington Times. The headline: “Day of reckoning looms for Capitol Police after Congress stormed by protesters.”

The very first sentence says: “Lawmakers last week targeted the U.S. Capitol Police for a shake-up after its officers failed to fend off violent pro-Trump protesters who laid siege to the building, resulting in the deaths of at least five people.”

Since that story appeared the media has been flooded with news stories saying that the Capitol Police had not only warnings from the FBI and New York Police Department but had an internal intelligence report warning of a potentially violent attack on the US Capitol building on January 6th. 

As a result of the attack, the House and Senate sergeant at arms have resigned, as has Steven Sund, the chief of the Capitol Police.

But there is a decided curiosity about what is not being discussed. The U.S. Capitol Police are under the joint jurisdiction of the House Administration Committee and the Senate Rules and Administration Committee. 

Who is the second ranking Democrat on House Administration? That would be the Democrats impeachment manager, Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin. And who sits on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee? That would be Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

Which is to say, in the style of the Howard Baker Watergate question, what did Mr. Raskin and Mr. Schumer know of the warning of impending violence - and what did they do about it? And yes, this goes for Speaker Pelosi as well.

There can, at this juncture, appear to be only one of two possible answers. Either Mr. Raskin and Mr. Schumer knew of the intelligence report that warned of impending violence - and did nothing, thus making possible the ensuing riot that had been warned about. 

Or, Mr. Raskin and Mr. Schumer did not know of the intelligence warning of potential violence, indicating a breathtaking level of sheer incompetence when it came to their most basic task in overseeing the Capitol Police: Ensuring the physical safety of the Capitol building, their House and Senate colleagues, their staffs and any and everybody else whose job required them to be physically present in the Capitol.

Senate Democrats abruptly reversed themselves yesterday and decided not to have witnesses testify at the impeachment trial. Thus avoiding getting answers for the American people about what those Members of the House and Senate responsible for Capitol security did or did not know or do. Thus turning the spotlight away from Mr. Raskin and Mr. Schumer - and Speaker Pelosi - and what they did or did not do in failing to secure the Capitol from a massive security breach. Which, not to put too fine a point on it, was Mr. Raskin and Mr. Schumer’s specific job as senior members of the two committees responsible for Capitol security.

As the resignations (under threat of being fired) of the two sergeants at arms and the Capitol Hill police chief indicate, what is now in play by Democrats is the oldest of Washington games: Blame the staff, not the boss. This also has another word: Cover-up.

Regardless of this evasion by Democrats, there should in fact be a full scale investigation of Mr. Raskin, Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Pelosi. With the real question focusing not only on what they did or did not know or do but exploring whether they should they be censured by their respective bodies. Or should they face outright expulsion?

Recall the historical 1954 censure of Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy. The Senate resolution censuring McCarthy for his investigative tactics of alleged Communists in government stated that McCarthy was being censured because he had: “…. acted contrary to senatorial ethics and tended to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute, to obstruct the constitutional processes of the Senate, and to impair its dignity…”

Without question the riot at the Capitol on January 6th did infinitely more damage to the Senate - and the House - than merely McCarthy’s bringing the Senate into “dishonor and disrepute.” In the process the riot not merely obstructed “the constitutional processes of the Senate, and to impair its dignity.” It brought the constitutional process of considering the Electoral College votes to a screeching halt and had both congressmen and senators literally running for their lives.

Thus the question recurs, and should be answered by insisting Mr. Raskin, Mr. Schumer - and Speaker Pelosi - be investigated. 

And face disciplinary action if it is required.

• Jeffrey Lord is a contributing editor at the American Spectator and a long-time political commentator who served in the administration of former United States President Ronald Reagan.