Three dozen former Members of Congress— an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, and both progressive and conservatives, sent all the current members a letter demanding that the Office of Congressional Ethics investigate members who worked to overthrow the government. This is especially bad news for congressional insurrectionists like Marjorie Traitor Greene (Q-GA), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Lauren Boebert (Q-CO), Scott Perry (R-PA) and others who worked with the White House to prevent Biden from taking office. Some of these members are being referred to the House Ethics Committee by the J-6 committee on Monday. This is the letter:
We are former members of the House of Representatives, Republicans and Democrats, who watched in distress on January 6th, 2021 as supporters of the former president assaulted the U.S. Capitol. We feared for each of you, including many of you who fled for your lives.
As is now clear, January 6th was only one event among many that together constituted an extraordinary campaign to overturn an election. The scale and audacity of the campaign is profoundly troubling. Among the most alarming findings is that various members of Congress participated in it.
We now know, for example, that sitting lawmakers corresponded and met with White House officials and allies to plot various prongs of the campaign, including to advocate that the president declare martial law; that states submit false certificates of electoral votes to Congress; that the vice president, in contravention of his constitutional duties, interfere with the counting of electoral votes; and that federal law enforcement authorities be enlisted to interfere with the election; among other startling facts. We also now know that various sitting lawmakers sought presidential pardons.
These lawmakers stopped short of storming the Capitol themselves. But they shared a common goal with those who did: to prevent the lawful transfer of power for the first time in the Republic’s history. As with those who stormed the Capitol, they must be held accountable.
As former lawmakers, we are well accustomed to disagreeing with our colleagues. The undersigned disagree on any number of policy issues. Among elected representatives, this is expected— and in a healthy democracy, normal. What is not normal is subverting an election when the results do not suit us. We expect that Congress will and should be home to intense and passionate disagreement. But we did not expect that lawmakers who found their party on the losing side of a presidential election would take matters into their own hands.
Our ability to ensure that such efforts are not repeated rests upon accountability for unlawful and unethical behavior. No one— including members of Congress— is above the law.
Our Congress enjoys unique protections in our constitutional order. Generally, the Constitution insulates lawmakers from liability arising out of the performance of their legislative duties in order to permit open deliberation by our representatives. But these protections are not absolute. The Constitution permits exceptions, including for actions that constitute “Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace.” Members whose misconduct falls outside of their constitutionally protected legislative duties are no more immune to legal accountability than their fellow citizens.
Our Congress is responsible for also setting its own standards of acceptable behavior and disciplining members when ethical lines are crossed. In exchange for broad protections, the Constitution grants each house of Congress the authority to “punish its Members for disorderly Behavior.” The exercise of Congress’s authority to discipline itself dates back to the earliest years of the Republic. Members have been expelled, censured, fined, and stripped of various privileges for all manner of misconduct, from bribery and physical altercations to support for the Confederacy. Surely, taking part in an effort to overturn an election warrants an institutional response; previous colleagues have been investigated and disciplined for far less.
Based on the facts and findings to date, we urge you to demand that the Office of Congressional Ethics thoroughly investigate those members who played a role in the events leading up to and on January 6th, and if appropriate, that the House exercise its disciplinary functions. At stake is not only the institutional integrity of the legislative branch— to draw and enforce bright lines of ethical conduct— but the principle of accountability upon which our democracy rests.
All of us have won elections; and many of us have lost them, too. The world’s greatest and oldest democratic experiment persists because we, like most of you, have accepted defeat at the ballot box— and then worked even harder to earn our constituents’ support the next time around. If those who have eschewed that basic republican tenet evade accountability, we fear lessons will go unlearned, and that history will repeat itself.
Although they are still getting signatures, the current ex-members who signed on are. Right now, there are 18 Republicans and 18 Democrats on board:
John Barrow (D-GA), 2005–2015
Steve Bartlett (R-TX), 1983–1991
Robert Bauman (R-MD), 1973–1981
Bruce Braley (D-IA), 2007–2015
Lois Capps (D-CA), 1998–2017
Russ Carnahan (D-MO), 2005–2013
Robert Carr (D-MI), 1975–1981, 1983–1995
Rod Chandler (R-Wa), 1983–1993
Tom Coleman (R-MO), 1976–1993
Mickey Edwards (R-OK), 1977–1993
David Emery (R-ME), 1975–1983
Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), 1991–2009
Paul Hodes (D-NH), 2007–2011
Elizabeth Holtzman (D-NY), 1973–1981
Bob Inglis (R-SC), 1993–1999, 2005–2011
Steve Israel (D-NY), 2001–2017
Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH), 2009–2011
Mike Kopetski (D-OR), 1991–1995
Larry LaRocco (D-ID), 1991–1995
John LeBoutillier (R-NY), 1981–1983
Mel Levine (D-CA), 1983–1993
Jim McDermott (D-WA), 1989–2017
Matthew McHugh (D-NY), 1975–1993
Glenn Nye (D-VA), 2009–2011
Thomas Perriello (D-VA), 2009–2011
Reid Ribble (R-WI), 2011–2017
Scott Rigell (R-VA), 2011–2017
Claudine Schneider (R-RI), 1981–1991
Philip Sharp (D-IN), 1975–1995
Peter Smith (R-VT), 1989–1991
Alan Steelman (R-TX), 1973–1977
Bart Stupak (D-MI) 1993–2011
Peter Torkildsen (R-MA), 1993–1997
David Trott (R-MI), 2015–2019
James Walsh (R-NY), 1989–2009
Joe Walsh (R-IL), 2011–2013
I spoke with one of the former members who signed on, Mary Jo Kilroy, who used to represent Columbus, Ohio. This evening she told me that “It’s extremely disturbing that 147 Republican Members of Congress, including several from my home state of Ohio, voted against the certification of President Biden’s election, aligning themselves with the mob that stormed the Capitol. Chief among them is Rep. Jim Jordan, who engaged in conversations with Trump and the planners before Jan 6, spoke with Trump twice that day, and spoke against the certification of Arizona’s votes. Certainly those Members who would subvert democracy should be held to account. Unfortunately the House Ethics Committee is a weak tool, and after Jan 2 and the swearing-in of the new Republican majority even less likely to investigate the actions of certain members. I would like to be wrong about that and see the Ethics committee fulfill its constitutional role.”
Marie Newman (D-IL) is still in Congress for another few weeks. She told me today that she agrees “wholeheartedly with the assessment of these former members. Those individuals who have given the J6 committee reason to be under review by the ethics committee, should be referred immediately.”