We’ve long known that last year’s Capitol insurrection was an unprecedented assault on our democracy, but we’re only just now finding out how far up the chain that corruption truly went: New footage has confirmed that multiple United States senators were in the Capitol on January 6th.
Unbelievable. What a stunning betrayal by our elected officials.
The events of January 6th, 2021 shocked the nation, but that initial shock may now pale in comparison to the bombshell discovery that numerous sitting United States senators were among those present inside the Capitol Building that fateful winter afternoon. The jaw-dropping footage from within the Capitol’s walls unmistakably shows elected officials such as Missouri’s Josh Hawley, who was previously known to have sympathized with efforts to overturn the election, among the thousands who managed to evade or overpower Capitol security and gain access to the building’s interior. Worse yet, it hasn’t only been openly hardline Trump loyalists who have been identified. Even senators who have since been vocal critics of the Capitol Insurrection, like Mitt Romney and Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, can clearly be seen stomping through the hallowed halls of American democracy like it’s their own personal playground.
Part of what makes this discovery so chilling is how disciplined and organized the senators look in the footage compared to the other rioters. Far from being part of some frenzied, spur-of-the-moment mob, they move calmly and deliberately through the Senate chamber as if it is business as usual, navigating the space with a poise that suggests deep familiarity with its layout—almost as if they’d somehow scoped it out ahead of time, or at the very least been given blueprints from a mole on the inside. Their obvious foreknowledge of the building layout implies a conspiracy of the highest order, and the fact that their participation seems to completely transcend party lines could mean that all the committees they’ve formed and legal battles they’ve waged in the wake of January 6th have just been an elaborate ruse, smoke and mirrors to throw the American public off the scent of a grand plot against our most sacred democratic institutions. Never in a million years would we have guessed Bernie Sanders and Mitch McConnell were secretly playing for the same team to try to overturn an election, but the footage doesn’t lie. They were there that day, hiding in plain sight beneath that great rotunda while the MAGA throngs wrought their shameful havoc.
We don’t know what’s worse, that they thought they could get away with this, or that they somehow nearly did.
Analyzing the footage, it’s honestly a wonder things didn’t turn out worse than they did—at several points the senators come within mere feet of Vice President Mike Pence, and though we hold no great love for the man, we shudder to think what could have happened if they’d gotten their hands on him. While the press’s cameras were trained on more visually striking insurrectionists like the QAnon Shaman or the “Camp Auschwitz” guy, it seems the real power players managed to entirely escape notice until today. We can only hope these senators will face prosecution for this heinous ploy against the very institutions they’re sworn to uphold, but though the evidence is undeniable, their deep connections in Washington are sure to make any kind of prosecution a long, uphill battle.
There must be consequences. This is treason, plain and simple.
Jesus, this thing is bigger than we ever imagined. Senators, the American people deserve some serious answers about just what the hell you were doing inside the Capitol Building that day. No one is above the law, and justice will be done.
