There was a degree of irony to the Republicans’ timing. Early Friday morning, Donald Trump used his social media platform to warn of possible “death [and] destruction“ if he’s indicted in New York. On Friday afternoon, some of the former president’s congressional allies organized a stunt in order to characterize those who were responsible for death and destruction on Jan. 6 as victims. NBC News reported:
Members of the House Oversight Committee on Friday toured a Washington, D.C., jail where some Jan. 6 defendants are being held and offered contrasting descriptions of conditions inside the facility. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who spearheaded the visit, painted a picture of constitutional violations and overall mistreatment, while her Democratic counterparts said the defendants were being treated fairly with nothing out of the ordinary.
The GOP crew featured familiar faces: Greene was joined by, among others, Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Mike Collins of Georgia, Byron Donalds of Florida, and Anna Paulina Luna of Florida. Their message was familiar, too: The far-right Republican members insisted that the Jan. 6 rioters’ rights were being violated.
Democrats debated whether to participate in the stunt — making the delegation bipartisan risked adding a veneer of legitimacy to the tour — but some Democratic members nevertheless joined the tour of the jail in order to help set the record straight afterwards.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, for example, stepped up to the microphones after Republicans had their say about the tour.
“Somebody’s got to be here to tell the truth,” Crockett, a former public defender, told reporters. “If we weren’t here, there would be no check for whatever it was that they said.” The Texas Democrat, who has experience working directly with defendants in Texas and Arkansas jails, said Jan. 6 defendants had more open space than inmates elsewhere, as well as tablets for education and entertainment. The facilities,
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