Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called for the expulsion of any member of Congress who helped plan the storming of the U.S. Capitol after a bombshell report alleged that several Republican lawmakers had co-ordinated with rally organizers.
"Any member of Congress who helped plot a terrorist attack on our nation's capitol must be expelled," the New York congresswoman wrote in a tweet late on Sunday night.
Her comment came after a Rolling Stone report, published on Sunday night, claimed multiple members of Congress had been "intimately involved" in the planning of former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his election loss and the January 6 protests, which culminated in the violence at the U.S. Capitol.
Any member of Congress who helped plot a terrorist attack on our nation’s capitol must be expelled.
This was a terror attack. 138 injured, almost 10 dead. Those responsible remain a danger to our democracy, our country, and human life in the vicinity of our Capitol and beyond. https://t.co/D0qLlaFjTh — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 25, 2021
Rolling Stone cited two anonymous sources, both involved in planning pro-Trump "Stop the Steal" rallies after the 2020 election, who said they had communicated with several Republican members of Congress or their senior staffers, as well as members of Trump's team, ahead of January 6.
The report identified the members of Congress who allegedly took part in these conversations or were represented by senior staffers as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar, Lauren Boebert, Madison Cawthorn, Andy Biggs and Louie Gohmert.
Both sources alleged that Rep. Gosar of Arizona also encouraged them to plan protests by offering a "blanket pardon" in an unrelated investigation.
Nick Dyer, Greene's spokesperson, told Newsweek that her involvement was solely to do with planning to object to the certification of Joe Biden's election victory on the House floor. She "had nothing to do with planning of any protest," he added.
Newsweek has contacted representatives for Ocasio-Cortez and the other lawmakers mentioned in this article for comment.
According to Rolling Stone, the two sources and a third person who was involved in the largest rally on January 6 have started communicating with a House committee investigating the Capitol riots.
The report prompted Ocasio-Cortez, who has spoken of fearing for her life as she hid in a bathroom after the rioters breached the Capitol building, to tweet that the people responsible "remain a danger to our democracy."
She tweeted: "This was a terror attack. 138 injured, almost 10 dead. Those responsible remain a danger to our democracy, our country, and human life in the vicinity of our Capitol and beyond."
Any Member of Congress who plotted with Jan. 6 terrorists must be removed from Congress. https://t.co/J2BrG2p5La — Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) October 25, 2021
Any Member who had knowledge of or helped plan the January 6 attack on the Capitol needs to be immediately expelled from Congress. They cannot be trusted with the future of our democracy and country. https://t.co/BIdfmrhvFN — David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) October 25, 2021
Other House Democrats have joined her in calling for any lawmakers involved in the planning of the January 6 attack to be expelled from Congress.
"Any Member of Congress who plotted with Jan. 6 terrorists must be removed from Congress," tweeted Rep. Eric Swalwell of California.
Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island added: "Any Member who had knowledge of or helped plan the January 6 attack on the Capitol needs to be immediately expelled from Congress. They cannot be trusted with the future of our democracy and country."
Update at 12.15 p.m. ET on 10/25/21: This article has been updated with a comment from Marjorie Taylor Greene's spokesperson.
Bishop120 on October 25th, 2021 at 12:20 UTC »
It takes a 2/3rds vote from required house (House or Senate) to expel any member. This will never happen. Instead what needs to happen is they need to be prosecuted for insurrection and treason so that they become automatically ineligible for their office and immediately removed. Much easier to convince 12 people off the street that someone is guilty than to convince a party to kick out its own member.
Edit: Article I, section 5 of the United States Constitution provides that "Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member." Dont confuse this with 14th Amendment section 3 - No Person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Edit 2: For all those saying that treason would require us to be legally at war with another country/enemy. Levying war isn't limited to formally declaring war. It includes any forcible opposition to the execution of a public law. Such "forcible opposition" ordinarily requires actual use of force by multiple people with the common purpose of preventing some law from being enforced. Weapons aren't always required; sheer numbers can be enough. Merely conspiring to overthrow the government isn't levying war—there must be an actual assemblage of people who are ready and intend to use force. So, no person acting alone can be guilty of levying war. The insurrection on Jan6th as well as all the congress members who conspired together to organize the insurrection would be prosecutable for treason. The terms used in the definition derive from English legal tradition, specifically the Treason Act 1351. Levying war means the assembly of armed people to overthrow of the government or to resist its laws. Those who assemble to levy war, as well as those who conspire with them, can be prosecuted.
theClumsy1 on October 25th, 2021 at 11:19 UTC »
Expulsion is not enough.
kernalbuket on October 25th, 2021 at 11:12 UTC »
The "Drain the Swamp" party will of course be against actually trying to drain the swamp