Mother of deceased Capitol Police officer presses GOP senators to back Jan. 6 commission
D.C. police officer Michael Fanone, injured while responding to the Jan. 6 attack, is slated to join Gladys Sicknick in some Thursday meetings with senators to discuss “the importance” of an independent investigation into the insurrection.
The mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick and another D.C. police officer injured on the job during the Capitol riot will meet with GOP senators on Thursday to push them to support a proposed bipartisan commission to investigate the events of Jan. 6 — a measure Republicans are poised to block.
Gladys Sicknick, as well as Brian Sicknick’s longtime girlfriend Sandra Garza, had been seeking sit-downs with every single Senate GOP office to emphasize “the importance” of establishing an independent body to investigate the deadly insurrection, according to a copy of one of the scheduling request emails obtained by POLITICO. Brian Sicknick died a day following his response to the Jan. 6 attack after suffering from a stroke.
Michael Fanone, who suffered a heart attack and concussion while responding to the Jan. 6 attack, and Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who was pepper sprayed and maced while defending the Capitol, are slated to join Sicknick and Garza in some of their Senate meetings. Fanone had unsuccessfully sought a face-to-face with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy when that chamber was deliberating over the riot commission bill.
“Not having a January 6 Commission to look into exactly what occurred is a slap in the faces of all the officers who did their jobs that day,” Gladys Sicknick said in a statement provided to POLITICO. “I suggest that all Congressmen and Senators who are against this Bill visit my son’s grave in Arlington National Cemetery and, while there, think about what their hurtful decisions will do to those officers who will be there for them going forward.”
“Putting politics aside, wouldn’t they want to know the truth of what happened on January 6? If not, they do not deserve to have the jobs they were elected to do,” she added.
Among the Republican senators who agreed to meet with the group, according to a source with knowledge of the schedule: Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Rob Portman (Ohio), Pat Toomey (Pa.), Susan Collins (Maine), Roger Marshall (Kansas), John Barrasso (Wyo.), Bill Cassidy (La.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Ted Cruz (Texas), Mike Crapo (Idaho), Mike Lee (Utah), Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.).
“I also asked what questions regarding Jan. 6 they are seeking answers to,” Johnson said in a statement on his meeting. “Although we respectfully disagreed on the added value of the proposed commission, I did commit to doing everything I could to ensure all their questions will be answered.”
A measure to set up the commission passed the House last week with the support of every single Democrat and 35 Republicans. But that legislation is on shaky ground in the Senate, where 10 Republicans would need to get on board in order to circumvent a filibuster. So far, only a few GOP lawmakers — including Romney, Collins and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — have signaled support for the proposal. Even then, they want to see changes made.
The Senate is expected to hold a key procedural vote on the House-passed commission legislation as soon as later Thursday.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has warned his members behind closed doors that the release of the commission’s findings could drag into the height of the 2022 election cycle, when both the Senate and House majorities are up for grabs. Former President Donald Trump has also come out swinging against the commission and slammed the House Republicans who voted for it.
But Republicans are facing mounting political pressure, including from some in the law enforcement community, to get behind the proposed commission.
Last week, an anonymous and unsigned statement was released on Capitol Police letterhead and said to be authored by multiple officers on the force, delivering a rare and scathing public rebuke of top Republicans for opposing the commission bill.
“On Jan 6th, where some officers served their last day in US Capitol Police uniform, and not by choice, we would hope that Members whom we took an oath to protect, would at the very minimum support an investigation to get to the bottom of EVERYONE responsible and hold them 100 percent accountable no matter the title of position they hold or held,” reads the letter, which was not written or issued formally by the department.
In addition, Gladys Sicknick’s involvement harks back to the establishment of the independent 9/11 Commission, a model for the current insurrection-investigating proposal. When that 9/11 inquiry faced early pushback from some on Capitol Hill, the families of victims of the attack stepped in to serve as successful grassroots lobbyists for the legislation.
Burgess Everett, Marianne LeVine and Olivia Beavers contributed.