One Republican state legislator has been taken into federal custody, but he was far from alone among Republican lawmakers in participating in the terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol. West Virginia Del. Derrick Evans was taken from his grandmother’s home by people in FBI jackets Friday afternoon after he filmed himself in a crowd storming the Capitol.
One down. But the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has pulled together a list on which Evans is just one of 10 current state legislators participating in the attack on the Capitol, and that’s if you don't count the two outgoing state representatives, or the one former one, on the scene. Most of them denied having gone into the Capitol, although former Pennsylvania Rep. Rick Saccone posted a video ranting about “storming the Capitol,” go figure.
The lawmakers’ stories—and denials—contain some unintentional comedy. For instance, Tennessee Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver insisted, “There wasn’t any violence going on here,” all evidence to the contrary.
Virginia state Sen. Amanda Chase, who previously called on Donald Trump to impose martial law, says she didn’t even go near the Capitol. But she tried to have it both ways on the terrorist attack, claiming on the one hand that “infiltrators” were responsible and on the other that it was just a natural result of patriots being backed into a corner, saying, “When you give them no other options, when you cheat them of their elections, when you take away their constitutional rights and freedoms, you’re backing patriots like myself into a corner. We would like to have a peaceful [resolution] to the events of today, but as you can see, there are already many patriots that have … we’ve had enough.”
Arizona Rep. Mark Finchem echoed Carpenter, saying the riot was “what happens when the People feel they have been ignored, and Congress refuses to acknowledge rampant fraud” while also blaming it on leftist infiltrators.
Michigan Rep. Matt Maddock spoke at a Tuesday rally that was a prelude to Wednesday’s events. His wife, who is poised to become co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, condemned the invasion of the Capitol after the fact—and after she also spoke at that Tuesday rally, where she said: “We never stop fighting.” Matt Maddock was not answering reporters’ questions about what he did on Wednesday.
You have to wonder if there are more to be found out—or if any of the “but I didn’t inhale”-type denials will break down as more information comes out about what happened.