President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s inner watchdog workplace repeatedly refused in his affirmation listening to to use the phrase “attack” to describe the violence on January 6, 2021, that disrupted Congress’ election certification vote.
“I don’t know if I would use the term ‘attack,’” Don Berthiaume, the nominee to be the DOJ inspector common, informed senators on Wednesday. “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 requested Berthiaume if the Capitol was attacked on January 6, and he grilled the nominee on why he wouldn’t agree to characterize the occasions of that day as an assault.
“There was protest activity, people went to the Capitol grounds. People entered the Capitol building, which is contrary – as far as I know – to law,” Berthiaume mentioned, whereas stressing that he didn’t “agree” with the time period assault at the same time as he acknowledged the “physical violence” exterior the Capitol that day.
“The term attack — to me — seems to imply that there was a coordinated effort to attack specific things,” the nominee added.
The place of inspector common was created by Congress, amongst a number of post-Watergate reforms in the Seventies, to examine waste, fraud and abuse inside government department companies.
Berthiaume has expertise working as an legal professional inside the Justice Department’s inspector common workplace, and has served in oversight roles at different companies.
Earlier in his questioning, Blumenthal requested Berthiaume who received the 2020 election. That query has tripped up Trump nominees for judgeships and for different authorities positions. Berthiaume, echoing a tactic utilized by different nominees, mentioned that President Joe Biden had been “certified” by the Senate as the winner.
Berthiaume denied discussing with the White House how he’d reply that query.
Blumenthal mentioned Wednesday that he requested questions on the 2020 election outcomes and the January 6 assault as a take a look at of the nominee’s independence.
Trump has taken a number of steps to undermine the establishment of inspectors common, together with with mass firings that didn’t comply with the procedures set by out Congress for terminating these officers. A federal courtroom discovered these removals seemingly to be illegal, however declined to reinstate the fired IGs into the positions.
Berthiaume mentioned Wednesday that he agreed with the courtroom’s conclusion that the terminations broke the legislation.