Rep. Payne, Jr.’s Statement on the Participation of Members of Congress in Planning the January 6^th Insurrection

Washington, D.C. — Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. issued the following statement today regarding the alleged participation of members of Congress and Congressional staff in the planning of the January 6, 2021 insurrection and attack on the U.S. Capitol Building.  An article in Rolling Stone magazine published October 24, 2021 stated that pro-Trump organizers met with at least seven different Republican members of Congress and their staff as they planned protest events on January 6^th.  The protests turned into an attack on the U.S. Capitol during the routine and bipartisan certification of the 2020 Presidential election that killed five people, injured at least 140 law enforcement officials, and forced members of Congress and their staff to flee the Capitol.  The seven members named in the article were Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of Arizona, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Madison Cawthorne of North Carolina, Louis Gohmert of Texas, and Mo Brooks of Alabama.

“I am shocked and outraged at the allegations presented in the Rolling Stone article that at least seven members of Congress and their staff helped plan the January 6^th insurrection.  If true, these Representatives and any others who were involved in the planning and execution of the insurrection should be expelled from Congress immediately.  We take an oath on our first day as members of Congress to protect and defend the Constitution.  But the allegations in this article show a criminal contempt and disrespect for the role and responsibility of being a member of Congress, our American democratic system, and even the rule of law in American society.  If these allegations are true, I hope these members of Congress are held accountable for their actions to the full extent of the law.”