Nancy Pelosi taps Russel Honoré to lead Capitol security review
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tapped retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, to lead an immediate review of the US Capitol riot.
In her weekly press conference Friday, Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the retired US Army general who led federal relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina would investigate how hundreds of President Trump supporters were able to overpower Capitol Police as the fallout in the wake of the siege continues.
“We must subject this whole complex to scrutiny in light of what happened and the fact that the inauguration is coming,” Pelosi told reporters.
“To that end, I have asked retired Lieutenant General Russel Honoré to lead an immediate review of security infrastructure, interagency processes, and command and control,” she said.
Pelosi said senior House lawmakers saw up close Honoré’s “excellent leadership at the time of Katrina,” the Category 5 storm that killed over 1,800 people in 2005, and expressed gratitude to the three-star general for accepting.
Honoré, a frequent critic of Trump, recently ripped White House senior adviser Jared Kushner for his handling of the national stockpile of medical equipment during the coronavirus crisis.
Calls are mounting for Congress to establish a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Jan. 6 storming of the US Capitol that left five people dead and dozens of cops hospitalized with serious injuries.
Trump supporters unhappy with the outcome of the presidential election swiftly overpowered undermanned police before trashing lawmakers’ offices and breaching both chambers of Congress just minutes after lawmakers were rushed to safety.
Several pols including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have recounted the harrowing episode, saying they believed lawmakers “narrowly escaped death” and came very close to being executed.
On Friday, Pelosi was pressed on whether lawmakers would be punished for bringing public groups into the Capitol after Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) claimed she saw an unnamed GOP lawmaker giving a “reconnaissance” tour the day before the riot.
“In order to serve here with each other, we must trust that people have respect for their oath of office, respect for this institution. We must trust each other,” Pelosi said.
“If in fact it is found that members of Congress were accomplices to this insurrection, if they aided and abetted the crime, then there have to be actions taken beyond the Congress in terms of prosecution.”