Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

Ahead of the one year anniversary of the January 6 attack on the Capitol, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Rules Committee, participated in a hearing with U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger to investigate ways to improve upon the security, planning, and response failures of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Padilla questioned Chief Manger on the role of election-related disinformation in the wake of the January 6 attack and how Capitol Police leadership responds to false statements that the insurrection was ‘not that bad.’ The Senator also questioned the Chief as it relates to agency preparedness during the COVID-19 pandemic. He underscored the importance of mental and physical health, and asked what steps Capitol Police leadership is taking to improve upon the force’s current 70 percent vaccination rate.

WATCH: View Video of Padilla’s Questioning at the Rules Committee Hearing

As California’s former Secretary of State, Senator Padilla has prioritized voting rights protections and improving safety at the Capitol. He has participated in oversight hearings regarding the attack on the U.S. Capitol and joined Leader Schumer this week to highlight the insidious impact that the ‘Big Lie’ refuting the election results had in leading up to the January 6 insurrection. Padilla also underscored the urgent necessity of passing voting rights protections to restore faith in our democratic election systems.  Last year, President Biden signed into law the Capitol Emergency Assistance Act, a bill that Padilla cosponsored to prevent the Capitol Police from losing critical response time waiting for approval to call in the National Guard.

Key Excerpts:

• We can discuss and debate what the proper terminology is, but even if it was just “a riot,” we saw the results of that incident. We saw violent attempts to disrupt Congress, to disrupt the process of certifying the election results and its part of the greater, peaceful transfer of power. We saw violence – it was deadly violence. We saw attacks and assaults far beyond insults and disrespect towards Capitol Police Officers. 

• So, if we are in agreement on a bipartisan basis to recognize January 6 for what it was, then we should also agree on a bipartisan basis to ask some questions. Was it organic and spontaneous or was it organized and premeditated? If it was organized and premeditated, you’re going to have a hard time convincing me otherwise that we have to ask the question, who was behind it? Who organized, who incited this? 

• We had the opportunity to set up an independent, bipartisan commission to answer those very questions, but unfortunately our Republican colleagues would not vote to do so.

• I do I want to highlight one specific question, the role of disinformation in the lead up to January 6 is one thing, but what has been done since the insurrection is another. And I am referring to the former President of the United States and his political allies seeking to whitewash in fact what happened. Some quoted publicly claiming that those who attacked the Capitol were just “peaceful protesters.”

• Perhaps nobody knows just how false those claims are than the men and women of it Capitol Police who were beaten and bloodied defending the people in this building and yes, defending democracy itself. 

• So Chief, what do you say to those who continue to perpetuate the lie that last January 6 just wasn’t that bad? What do you say to that? 

Full Transcript:

Sen. Padilla: Thank you. Before I get to a couple questions to prioritize, I want to take the opportunity to comment on something that Senator Cruz just raised. 

I appreciate the fact that he recognized, last January 6th, I believe he called it a riot and referenced rioters. I believe it was an insurrection, personally. We can discuss and debate what the proper terminology is, but even if it was just “a riot,” we saw the results of that incident. We saw violent attempts to disrupt Congress, to disrupt the process of certifying the election results and its part of the greater, peaceful transfer of power. We saw violence – it was deadly violence. We saw attacks and assaults far beyond insults and disrespect towards Capitol Police Officers. 

So, if we are in agreement on a bipartisan basis to recognize January 6 for what it was, then we should also agree on a bipartisan basis to ask some questions. Was it organic and spontaneous or was it organized and premeditated? If it was organized and premeditated, you’re going to have a hard time convincing me otherwise that we have to ask the question, who was behind it? Who organized, who incited this? 

We had the opportunity to set up an independent, bipartisan commission to answer those very questions, but unfortunately our Republican colleagues would not vote to do so. So now I and so many people across the country eagerly await the results of the Committee that was established in the House, a bipartisan committee which seeks to answer some of these questions. 

Let me now transition back to the topic at hand, issues at hand, and some questions that I was hoping to raise. First, in the context of this information, Chief, I thank you for the service at this time of this agency and for your more than fory years of work at law enforcement. The topic of disinformation has been raised by some of my colleagues already in this committee. I will not repeat them. 

But I do I want to highlight one specific question, the role of disinformation in the lead up to January 6 is one thing, but what has been done since the insurrection is another. And I am referring to the former President of the United States and his political allies seeking to whitewash in fact what happened. Some quoted publicly claiming that those who attacked the Capitol were just “peaceful protesters.” Perhaps nobody knows just how false those claims are than the men and women of it Capitol Police who were beaten and bloodied defending the people in this building and yes, defending democracy itself. 

So Chief, what do you say to those who continue to perpetuate the lie that last January 6 just wasn’t that bad? What do you say to that? 

Chief Manger: We are not concerned about political ideology. We are concerned about behavior, we’re concerned about people that break the law. People that break the law, there are extremists on both sides of the spectrum breaking the law. And we are here to protect the Capitol, the Members of Congress. I would say to anybody that wants to come to this Capitol and peacefully demonstrate, we will protect your right to do so. But anybody that comes here and decides they want to break the law, that we will do everything in our power to stop you and ensure the Capitol and Members of Congress remain safe. 

Sen. Padilla: Chief, I didn’t think I needed a follow up question to that, but apparently, I do. Do we what we saw in the Capitol last January 6 was just another day, just people exercising their constitutional rights, or was it unacceptable, fatal violence? 

Chief Manger: As I watched the events of January 6, I was, at the time, retired. I was, at the time, watching it on TV, and I was horrified by what I saw. I saw police officers being assaulted, and that is the reason I’m sitting here today is because I wanted to do what I could to help this police department and to better protect our nation and the Capitol and what this Capitol represents. 

Sen. Padilla: Thank you for that. Clearly we so have ongoing work to do. One other quick question, Madam Chair I know my time is up. I want to recognize that Senator Capito raised the concern and the questions about the mental health of the women and women of the U.S. Capitol Police. I share in that and stand by ready to support any additional resources or support that we can offer. 

I do have one question about physical health. We know that businesses, organizations, entities, public and private across the country, have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Whether it is individuals who are not able, willing to work because they have not been vaccinated or people who are not able to work because they have contracted COVID-19. 

Chief, can you talk about vaccination levels within the department and what steps we’re doing to encourage vaccination rates for those who are not vaccinated yet? 

Chief Manger: I think we are over 70% of our employees are vaccinated, but like every agency — we just had a call of law enforcement agencies around the region yesterday, we are being hit hard by folks both vaccinated and not vaccinated with this latest variant that are testing positive and we’ve got dozens of officers out on isolation. We’ve got dozens of officers that have been out long term with the impacts of COVID. So it has affected our staffing levels and again with all of the other staffing challenges that we have, COVID is wreaking havoc as well. 

Sen. Padilla: Well, thank you for your responses and for your service. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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