USCP (“USSP”)
The United States Capitol Police considers itself exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. I learned of this stunning attitude when USCP rejected my request for records relating to the shooting death of Ashli Babbitt at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. I have used FOIA very effectively for decades. It is my weapon of choice as a grassroots activist. But, last year, I was shut out – twice – by USCP when I attempted to gain records relating to the shooting death of Ms. Ashli Babbitt by USCP Officer Michael Byrd.
I was not the only one to suffer the USCP door slam. “Judicial Watch,” “Congressional Quarterly,” “Roll Call,” and others received the same 1-page denial letter that I did.
FOIA is a critical tool of the citizenry to oversee all of government. With few exemptions, it is a simple, generally free-of-cost, powerful tool that we can use to send a letter to a government office or agency to gain access to records. It is the way The People pull back curtains and shine spotlights. It is invaluable.
The U.S. Capitol Police is better abbreviated “USSP” to stand for U.S. Secret Police.
Recently, I hit a 3-page document filed by an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice while studying the U.S. DOJ prosecution of Mr. Kelly Meggs (case number 1:22-cr-15), one of the alleged “Oath Keepers.” It says:
“Finally, the government notes that it does not control or have access to records maintained or created by the U.S. Capitol Police Office of the Inspector General.”
The DOJ broadcast this announcement in an obscure discovery response it filed January 20, 2022. I caught sight of it when Counsel for Mr. Meggs filed it as an exhibit on a motion for enforcement of discovery.
Understand what this document says: the U.S. DOJ is positing to the Court in the federal prosecution of U.S. v. Stewart Rhodes, et al. – including Mr. Kelly Meggs – that it has no control over the USCP. Meaning, the U.S. DOJ did not access USCP officers and records ahead of convening federal grand juries and filing for warrants and inspiring corporations to hand over documents like records from Bank of America.
Wow, does this explain quite a bit. In these past fifteen months, I have articulated numerous, specific criticisms of the U.S. DOJ, from up-charging defendants to prosecutorial over-reach. But, I was left a bit confused on the first handful of trials because DOJ wasn’t consistently calling USCP witnesses and listing USCP documents on the pre-trial exhibit lists.
The explanation is simple:
U.S. DOJ can’t reliably call USCP officers to the stand because the DOJ doesn’t fully know what happened on January 6.
The U.S. DOJ prosecuting attorneys don’t know what the USCP officers would say if asked while on the stand. Instead of adequately preparing their cases, the U.S. DOJ is relying on the general anger of the local public in D.C. to compensate for gaps in prosecution fundamentals, like calling the officer on the scene to the stand.
As I laid out in detail in my new book, “January 6 x 20 Things You Need to Know,” the U.S. Capitol was open on January 6. Former USCP Chief Sund testified he decided to close the building at 12:53 p.m., basis the notification to him of the discovery of the pipe bombs at RNC and DNC headquarters at 12:52 p.m. Except that the Joint Session of Congress was allowed to gavel in and conduct business for more than 45-minutes after that decision was made. One defendant who testified that he walked past a USCP officer, through an open door, was acquitted at trial. Speaker of the House Pelosi is unaccounted for. The Mayor of Washington, D.C. Muriel Browser delayed the deployment of the D.C. National Guard by more than four hours.
The USCP is a $500 million/year law enforcement agency that operates solely in and around the U.S. Capitol building. It’s the agency responsible for the security failure of January 6. It’s the agency that was approving permits as late as the afternoon of January 5 for rallies, surrounding the Capitol building and grounds on January 6. It’s the agency officer who murdered Ms. Ashli Babbitt and who was then put back in charge of security for the U.S. House Chamber (the same officer who previously left a loaded handgun in the bathroom at the Capitol).
And the U.S. DOJ “does not control” the USCP to either prepare for trial or to respond to defense discovery demands.
Meaning, the U.S. DOJ did not properly investigate more than 800 potential defendants before charging them with federal crimes which, in some cases, carry decades of potential jail sentences and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines?
Meaning that the U.S. DOJ does not actually know what happened on January 6?
What is going on here?
The U.S. DOJ, in the same court paper, tosses a stinky bone that the FBI interviewed some of the officers and can supply memos of those interviews. Translation: it is willing to pass around a bit of inadmissible hearsay. Underbelly: the U.S. DOJ doesn’t like the USCP as a rogue agency any more than I do.
If the USCP is not answerable to The People or the U.S. DOJ, then who does it answer to?
OPEN USCP to FOIA
Welcome to our new call to action! I am asking everyone to mail a FOIA demand to the USCP for a copy of all records pertaining to the shooting death of Ashli Babbitt by USCP Officer Michael Byrd on January 6, 2021. And, I’m asking you to call your Congressman to demand the USCP comply with FOIA.
Get your letter off to USCP today. Send me a copy, if you don’t mind, so that I can amass the argument that We, The People, demand the USCP be transparent of its actions and activities through FOIA. My address is on the contact page and in the footer of every page of this website.
It is absolutely unacceptable in America in 2021/2022 that a secret group, calling itself a “law enforcement agency,” is in charge of the doors to The People’s House.
USCP? It’s “USSP,” and that’s not the way we do things in the USA.
#AskForAshli #StopTheSecrecy
