One year ago, fossil fueled fascists descended on DC to try and overturn a free and fair election: They stormed the Capitol, attempted to hunt down members of Congress and tried to steal the presidency for Donald Trump.
They failed on Jan 6, 2021, but that wasn’t the end of it.
As we’ve talked about elsewhere, the coup never stopped and the same people behind the Jan 6 2021 attack on democracy are planning another series of rallies this week. Trump canceled his planned speech in Florida, but other groups are planning a rally at the DC jail where about 40 of the insurrectionists are being held. And some of the members of Congress who aided and abetted the coup attempt are planning a press conference in DC.
Many of us are headed to pro-democracy vigils in our communities later today, and last night our friends at Shut Down DC dropped a banner near the US Capitol that called on Congress to Expel all Fascists. Can you back up these actions with a quick call to support Congresswoman Cori Bush’s H.Res 25 to investigate and expel the members of Congress who helped incite the violent insurrection at our Capitol?
Here’s a quick recap of how we got here: Last January, right after the insurrection, Rep. Bush introduced a resolution calling on Ethics Committee to investigate and report on whether any and all actions taken by Members of Congress to overturn the 2020 Presidential election violated their oath of office, and — if so instruct them to face sanction, up to and including removal from the House of Representatives.
In the aftermath of the violent coup attempt at the Capitol, the idea was popular — 54 members of the house cosponsored Rep Bush’s bill, and in the Senate, progressive leaders like Sen Sherrod Brown and Sen Sheldon Whitehouse have also argued that Republican insurrectionists like Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz should resign or be expelled.
But in the months since, Congressional leadership has chosen to try and work with Republicans; President Biden has taken a conciliatory tone toward fascists, and the big fossil fuel corporations that fund them; And the Department of Justice has slow-walked recommendations to investigate and prosecute the leaders of the January 6 insurrection, focussing on mob violence, instead of the ringleaders.
It’s been a year, and fossil fueled fascists in Congress who helped plan the insurrection have faced more consequences from Twitter than they have from their colleagues.
It covers two types of offenders: those who actively engaged in plotting with insurrectionists and those who gave aid or comfort to the project.
In the first category are a number of House members identified by planners of the January 6 “Stop the Steal” rally as having collaborated with them. Those Republican representatives who the planners allege personally engaged with them directly, or did so via assigned staffers, include Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Louie Gohmert of Texas. … Ethics Committee members in the House and the Senate should also consider appropriate actions that might be taken with regard to the eight senators and 139 representatives who, after the January 6 rioters left the Capitol, voted to sustain one or both of the objections to the election results that were under consideration when the Trump supporters attacked. Did they not give aid and comfort to the coup attempt by supporting the program of the insurrectionists? Should they not be held to account?
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/expel-coup-congress/
If your member of Congress is a Democrat, they should cosponsor Rep Bush’s resolution and make a statement supporting it today. If your member of Congress is a Republican, or supported the insurrection, you should still call them and tell them you’re supporting this bill to investigate and expel members of congress who supported the attempted coup — Rep. Bush’s bill can be passed by a simple majority, and every call and it of pressure helps. You can also call Speaker Pelosi at (202) 224-3121 and ask her to put Rep. Bush’s resolution up for a vote so we can get some accountability, not just a record of what happened, from the January 6 special committee.