Nominee for DOJ watchdog says violence on January 6 wasn’t an ‘attack’ on the Capitol
President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s internal watchdog office repeatedly refused to use the word “assault” during his confirmation hearing to describe the violence that disrupted Congress’ vote to certify the election on Jan. 6, 2021.
“I don’t know if I would use the term ‘attack,'” Justice Department inspector general nominee Don Berthiaume told senators Wednesday. “I mean, there were actions outside the Capitol—protests and stuff—and there was violence on the Capitol grounds.”
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, asked Berthiaume whether the Capitol was attacked on Jan. 6 and grilled the candidate on why he would not agree to call the day’s events an attack.
Berthiaume said, “There were protest activities, people went to the Congress building. People entered the Congress building, which is against the law as far as I know,” and emphasized that although he acknowledged that “physical violence” was used outside the Congress Building that day, he did not “accept” the term attack.
“To me, the term attack implies that there is a coordinated effort to attack certain things,” the candidate added.
The inspector general position was created by Congress in the 1970s amid a series of post-Watergate reforms to investigate waste, fraud and abuse in the executive branch.
Berthiaume has experience working as an attorney within the Department of Justice inspector general’s office and has held oversight positions at other agencies.
Early in his questioning, Blumenthal asked Berthiaume who won the 2020 election. This question has baffled Trump’s nominees for judges and other government positions. Recalling the tactic used by other candidates, Berthiaume said President Joe Biden has been “certified” as the winner by the Senate.
Berthiaume denied discussing with the White House how to answer that question.
Don Berthiaume, Trump’s nominee for Justice Department Inspector General, refuses to use the word “assault” to describe the violence of the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. -CSPAN
Blumenthal said Wednesday that he fielded questions about the 2020 election results and the Jan. 6 attack as a test of the candidate’s independence.
Trump has taken several steps to undermine the inspector general agency; mass layoffs did not follow procedures established by Congress to terminate these officials. The federal court ruled that these removals were probably illegal, but refused to reinstate fired IGs to positions.
Berthiaume said Wednesday that he agreed with the court’s conclusion that the terminations were unlawful.
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