17 House Judiciary Republicans Criticize Pelosi’s Pick to Lead Capitol Breach Review

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on March 2, 2021. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday, criticizing her selection of Russel Honore to lead the review of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

The letter, signed by 17 GOP lawmakers, questions Honore’s impartiality given his disparaging statements about the U.S. Capitol Police and members of Congress.

“Honore is entitled to his personal opinions, but we are concerned that his selection will undermine the serious purpose of this review: to develop a fair and clear-eyed assessment of the systemic security and leadership failures concerning the events of January 6,” the letter states.

The Republicans pointed out in the letter that Honore has described members of the U.S. Capitol police as “[expletive] hats” for asking him to follow security protocols during a visit to the Capitol.

“This statement is troublesome as LTF Honore will undoubtedly examine some of these same security protocols during his review,” the letter states.

Pelosi’s office and Honore’s representative did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ requests for comment.

The House Judiciary GOP letter points to other statements by Honore in which he accused the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP), without evidence, of aiding the rioters who broke into the Capitol. Honore said the rioters were able to gain access to the Capitol because “30-40 percent of the USCP officers are ‘Trumpsters.’”

“To call these remarks inflammatory is an understatement. These statements are deeply offensive and should be disqualifying for anyone to lead a serious and objective review of the Capitol’s security,” the Republican letter states.

Members of the National Guard are seen on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 2, 2021. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Honore had also spoken disparagingly about several Republican lawmakers, the letter states. He showed his support for the detention of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and suggested that USCP officers “put her [expletive] on the no-fly list.” Honore wrote an expletive-laden tweet calling for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) to be “run out of D.C.” and “disbarred” for raising an objection to the counting of electoral votes, according to the letter.

“The security of the Capitol requires a serious and objective examination—one in which all members and the American people can have confidence in the findings,” the letter states.

The Republicans concluded by asking Pelosi to share a list of candidates she considered for the position, an explanation of whether her office was aware of Honore’s “inflammatory statements” and whether she or her staff directed Honore to scrub his social media profiles of the derogatory messages.

The 17 Republicans who signed the letter are: Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), Rep. Ken Buck (Colo.), Rep. Mike Johnson (La.), Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Tom McClintock (Calif.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), Greg Steube (Fla.), Tom Tiffany (Wisc.), Chip Roy (Texas), Dan Bishop (N.C.), Michelle Fischbach (Minn.), Victoria Spartz (Ind.), Scott Fitzgerald (Wisc.), Cliff Bentz (Ore.) and Burgess Owens (Utah).