US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday said that members of the Congress who, if found to have assisted the mob storming the Capitol on January 6 should be prosecuted.
“Justice is called for as we address insurrection perpetrated against the Capitol last week,” Pelosi told Reuters. “If in fact it is found that members of Congress were accomplices to this insurrection if they aided and abetted the crimes, there have to be actions taken beyond the Congress, in terms of prosecution for that,” she added.
An attack by a pro-Trump mob resulted in five people being killed and dozens of people injured. The mob was trying to storm the Capitol, seeking to overturn election results.
Following the attack, a slew of White House personnel quit including Secretary of Education Betsy Davos, First Lady Melanie Trump’s chief of staff, Transportation Secretary Ellen Chao and Acting chairman, White House Council of Economic Advisers Tyler Goodspeed.
Congresswoman Mike Sherrill said she saw colleagues leading groups of people on “reconnaissance” tours of the Capitol a day before the attack. A letter signed by more than 30 Democrats seeks an investigation about tours of the Capitol that took place on January 5.
Pelosi named retired Lieutenant General Russel Honoré to lead a security review of the January 5 tours. Inspector General of the Department of Justice Michael Horowitz said that there would also be an investigation into whether there were any weaknesses in the Department of Justice’s protocols, policies or processes that in turn compromised in securing the Capitol.
Pelosi did not reveal further details regarding Trump’s impending impeachment trial. The trial could probably include after President-elect Joe Biden takes oath on January 20.
