House Republicans planning to visit Jan. 6 defendants in DC jail
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., previously visited the defendants in November 2021
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer of Kentucky are planning to visit Jan. 6 defendants being held in the Washington, D.C. jail.
A spokesperson for Comer has confirmed reports saying Greene is leading the effort, though concrete details are still being worked out.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, speaks to members of the media following the third vote on the first session of the 118th Congress in the House Chamber in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Greene and Comer told The Hill a letter to start the process of the visit is expected to be released on Thursday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We’re going to be addressing the human rights abuse, such as the fact that they’ve been held in solitary confinement up to 23 hours a day, denied the ability to see their families," Green told the outlet.
Greene previously visited the defendants in November 2021. During an appearance on Steven Bannon’s "The War Room" on Real America’s Voice, the Republican lawmaker claimed the prisoners were being kept in conditions worse than Guantanamo Bay.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Last night I finally got into the deplorable jail, the D.C. jail where these people are being held for months on end in conditions like I’ve never seen in my life," Green said. "It’s beyond anything I’ve ever seen and every American in this country should be outraged at what’s happening. I don’t care how you vote."
FILE: House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., pauses for questions in the House Rules Committee as he advances a GOP effort to disapprove of action by the District of Columbia Council on a local voting rights act and a criminal code revision, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
That same week, the U.S. Marshals Service completed an inspection of the jail complex where 30 Jan. 6 defendants were being held. The Marshals’ inspection determined the defendants were being held in sufficient conditions.
It was not immediately clear which other Republicans will accompany Greene and Comer on the visit.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}House Oversight ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., welcomed Congressional oversight of detainee treatment in the U.S. but accused his GOP colleagues of having "selective sympathy" for the Jan. 6 defendants.
"The treatment of detained individuals in facilities across the country is an important subject for Congressional oversight. That’s why last Congress Oversight Democrats pressed for answers on the deteriorating conditions at Rikers Island in New York, for example," Raskin said.
"Our GOP colleagues’ sudden and selective sympathy for January 6 insurrectionists reflects their continuing effort to lionize the violent attempt to overthrow the 2020 presidential election."
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The news comes after U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg denied a request from a Jan. 6 defendant to push back the start of her trial to allow time to review about 44,000 hours of Capitol riot footage from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.