Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s internal watchdog office, Don Berthiaume, repeatedly refused to use the word ‘attack’ to describe the violence on January 6, 2021, that disrupted Congress’ election certification vote.
Confirmation Hearing
During his confirmation hearing, Berthiaume told senators that he would not agree to characterize the events of that day as an attack. ‘I don’t know if I would use the term ‘attack’,’ he said. ‘I mean, we had activity outside the Capitol — protests and such — and there was violence on the Capitol grounds.’
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, had asked Berthiaume if the Capitol was attacked on January 6, and he grilled the nominee on why he would not agree to characterize the events of that day as an attack. Berthiaume acknowledged the ‘physical violence’ outside the Capitol that day but stressed that he didn’t ‘agree’ with the term attack.
Berthiaume has experience working as an attorney within the Justice Department’s inspector general office and has served in oversight roles at other agencies. Earlier in his questioning, Blumenthal asked Berthiaume who won the 2020 election. Berthiaume said that President Joe Biden had been ‘certified’ by the Senate as the winner.
Independence Test
Blumenthal said he asked questions about the 2020 election results and the January 6 protests as a test of the nominee’s independence. Trump has taken several steps to undermine the institution of inspectors general, including mass firings that did not follow the procedures set by Congress for terminating those officials.
Berthiaume said he agreed with the court’s conclusion that the terminations broke the law. The position of inspector general was created by Congress among a host of post-Watergate reforms in the 1970s to investigate waste, fraud, and abuse within executive branch agencies.
Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
