Former Attorney General William Barr criticized President Donald Trump after a rogue group of rioters — some of whom were Antifa —- stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to flee the building during their joint session to certify the results of the Electoral College.
“Orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable,” Barr said in a statement. “The President’s conduct yesterday was a betrayal of his office and supporters.”
One woman was shot and killed inside the Capitol building by law enforcement, and dozens were arrested.
Police revealed that four others died as a result from their injuries, including one Capitol Police officer.
“The violence at the Capitol Building is outrageous and despicable. Federal agencies should move immediately to disperse it,” Barr said on Wednesday when the violence first broke out.
Barr is one of several Trump administration officials to blame the president for the chaos that occurred.
At least two of Trump’s Cabinet officials have resigned, including Transportation Secretary and wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Elaine Chao, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
Those who have stayed have been less critical of the president, and more focused on investigating how the Capitol storming occurred. FBI Director Christopher Wray said his agency had deployed its “full investigative resources” and would “hold accountable those who participated in yesterday’s siege of the Capitol.”
And Jeffrey Rosen, who took over as acting attorney general after Barr’s departure last month, said the Justice Department is “committed to ensuring that those responsible for this attack on our Government and the rule of law face the full consequences of their actions under the law.”
This response is quite different than the federal government’s response to the coup launched against Trump. Multiple investigations prove that officials in the DOJ and FBI conspired to oust Trump from office by using the Russiagate hoax against him, but only one official has been charged.
The same can be said of Senate Republicans’ vow to investigate the Capitol break-in. Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., have vowed for months that they would get to the bottom of the Russiagate hoax. But nothing significant has come from either committee’s investigations in terms of holding subversive officials accountable.
But now that their safety is at risk, Graham and his colleagues are suggesting “sedition might be a charge” for the rioters who broke in.
The federal government also refused to take seriously the riots that took place this summer, even though radical leftists destroyed private businesses and burned entire parts of cities to the ground. Wray was one of the officials who insisted that Antifa was not that big of a threat, since it is just an “ideology,” “not a group or an organization.”
But now that Trump is the one being held responsible, government officials have no problem enforcing the rule of law.
A federal prosecutor even suggested on Thursday that he would examine Trump’s role in the Capitol riot and hold him legally accountable if need be.
“Yes, we are looking at all actors here, not only the people that went into the building, but . . . were there others that maybe assisted or facilitated or played some ancillary role in this. We will look at every actor and all criminal charges,” acting U.S. attorney Michael R. Sherwin said when asked if he would look at the speech Trump gave before the rally moved toward the Capitol.
