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Soon after the Capitol siege on the 6th, many Congressmen and Congresswomen began comparing stories, and telling their versions of what happened during the attack by MAGA terrorists. If anything, people in and around Congress are angrier now that they understand the extent of what happened on that day, and what happened before that day. There’s also a lot of anecdotal evidence piling up that there were many terrorists who had a plan to take hostages, to barricade themselves in the Capitol, and to murder prominent members of Congress and VP Mike Pence. There’s evidence of communication between people in the White House and the MAGA terrorists ON THE DAY. There’s evidence of coordination between Republican House members and the terrorists before the attack.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s chief of staff revealed to the Boston Globe that when staffers barricaded themselves in the office, they began looking for the panic buttons installed years ago, only to find the panic button units ripped out. How would that even happen? It shows a really shocking level of planning ahead of the assault. Which leads me to this story:

After seeing one of their colleagues killed last Wednesday, Capitol Police officers are angry that Republican members of Congress refuse to submit to the security changes put in place since then, and say they wouldn’t even be surprised if some lawmakers helped organize the attack.

Officers told BuzzFeed News that members of Congress often see security as optional. Even after last week’s deadly attack, some Republican members refused to go through metal detectors, pushing their way past Capitol Police officers.

“Officers are fuming and there are mumbles of several walking off the job,” one officer with more than 10 years on the force told BuzzFeed News — just as Republicans took to the floor last night to rail against even basic security measures. At one point today, officers set up tables around the metal detectors in an effort to block Republicans from just walking by them.

One of the officers said it’s not unusual for members of Congress to bring dozens of people at once and insist that visitors be waved past security. Officers’ concerns were echoed by some Democrats who have been speaking out about the state of security at the Capitol, and the potential involvement of members in the planning of the insurrection.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill has alleged that some of her Republican colleagues led “reconnaissance” tours of the building ahead of the attack, though did not provide evidence to back up that claim. Rep. Val Demings, former chief of the Orlando Police Department, told CNN, “If any members of Congress participated, helped to organize, orchestrate … they need to be held accountable.”

Two of the officers who spoke to BuzzFeed News said it wouldn’t surprise them if lawmakers had been involved. “There are definitely some members who need to be held to account once an investigation shows the totality of circumstances,” one said, in a sign of how betrayed some officers feel in the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol.

“Let’s be very clear, we are here for Congress,” a veteran officer said. “We are the buffer, so that Congress doesn’t have to deal with the mess that they create in their respective districts, so they don’t have to deal with the public. That’s primarily what our mission is — police work is kind of a second thought.”

[From Buzzfeed]

Rep. Sherrill also spoke to Rachel Maddow last night and she described the squirrelly behavior of several of her Republican colleagues, who must have been showing the MAGA terrorists where certain offices are in the Capitol complex. Which would explain how quickly the terrorists found, say, Nancy Pelosi’s private offices. And the Capitol Police are right to disgruntled and angry. Ugh. This is all so infuriating and chilling.

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Photos courtesy of Getty.