Democrats are looking to bar former President Donald Trump and several allies from entering the U.S. Capitol in retaliation for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Nikema Williams (D-GA) are the sole sponsors of a resolution that would ask the U.S. Capitol Police and House and Senate sergeant-at-arms to take “such actions as may be necessary” to banish Trump and eight of his former top aides from the Capitol permanently.
GEORGIA GRAND JURY FOREWOMAN SAYS PUBLIC ‘WON’T BE TOO SURPRISED’ AT LIST OF INDICTMENT REFERRALS
This resolution draws on information from a report released two months ago from the House select committee investigating the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The report referred the former president to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution, as well criminal referrals for several of his top advisers.
“The effort to undermine and overturn the 2020 presidential election damaged the functions of our democracy,” the resolution states. Those efforts also “damaged the integrity of Congress’s constitutional role in certifying the election results” and “put the lives of Members of Congress and the Vice President of the United States in genuine peril.”
Williams sponsored a similar resolution in January 2021, shortly after the riots, that would prohibit Trump from entering the Capitol upon his exit from the presidency. It was introduced in the House of Representatives on Jan. 13, 2021, but never gained any traction.
This new resolution, introduced in the House Committee on House Administration on Feb. 17, specifically cites his intent to overturn the 2020 election. Under the bill, Trump, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, former Trump assistant Peter Navarro, former Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark, and lawyers John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, and Rudy Giuliani would be prohibited from entering the Capitol.
Bannon, Meadows, Scavino, and Navarro were found by the Jan. 6 committee to be in criminal contempt of Congress, and Trump, Eastman, Meadows, Giuliani, Clark, and Chesebro were referred for criminal prosecution.
This is the latest move against top Republicans for Swalwell, who was recently removed from the House Intelligence Committee by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) under allegations that Swalwell developed ties to a suspected Chinese spy in 2012 — something the Democratic representative has adamantly denied and called “political abuse.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Swalwell and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who was also removed from the Intelligence Committee, led investigations into Trump’s alleged ties to Russia.
Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election are the focal point for several legislative and legal matters. A Georgia special grand jury discovered enough evidence that at least a dozen people may have committed perjury and could be criminally tried.
