‘CHILLING EFFECT’

Capitol Police Intimidating Jan. 6 Riot Witnesses Into Going Easy on Them, Whistleblower Claims

The police whistleblower alleges the department tried to have its lawyer attend his interview with congressional Jan. 6 investigators.

A police whistleblower has accused Capitol Police bosses of using shady tactics to intimidate Capitol riot witnesses into going easy on the department when talking to congressional investigators. The whistleblower, who requested anonymity before speaking to Politico, said he decided to cooperate with the House investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection—but, before he sat down with investigators, a committee staffer asked the whistleblower if a lawyer from the police department could attend his interview. The whistleblower told Politico he hadn’t told the department he was being interviewed, so it’s unclear how police officials learned about it. “It’s obvious that they want to intimidate people and no one’s going to say anything bad about the department or anything that went on with the lawyers sitting in the room,” he said. “I think it’s a chilling effect that they’re in bed with the general counsel.” A spokesperson for the committee declined to comment on the claim, and a Capitol Police spokesperson said the department’s actions on Jan. 6 had been “exhaustedly examined by multiple reviews.”