Bay Area Congresswoman Jackie Speier is among the dozens of Democrats demanding an investigation of Republican representatives who may have facilitated the attack on the Capitol.
Rep. Speier is part of a group of more than 30 House Democrats who want to know why there were tour groups at the Capitol the day before the attack, the first time tours were given since the coronavirus pandemic restricted visitors.
"It is unusual," she told KCBS Radio on Thursday. "The only way anyone could get in is if they were escorted by a member of Congress or a staff member and it certainly needs to be investigated."
Democrats are calling for an investigation into which members may have let visitors in, what they saw and learned and whether any of those visitors were part of the mob that invaded the building the next day.
The Congresswoman called the attack "harrowing" and chaotic.
"I was in the gallery and we were told to lie down, and I was on the floor of one of the tiers and then I heard a gun go off. It just took me back to Jonestown in Guyana," she said. Speier was shot five times by members of the Peoples Temple cult in 1978 while investigating the group, one day before 900 members died in a mass murder-suicide.
She said of the Capitol attack: "I remember laying my cheek on that cold stone floor and thinking 'This is it.'"
Speier said anyone who aided and abetted in the attack needs to be held responsible, which is part of why she voted to impeach President Trump for a historic second time.
"This was not a vote for the next five to six days, this was a vote for the next 500 years. We want to protect this democracy, and if the actions to incite an insurrection are not of the standard to impeach a president then nothing is."
Just one week after the deadly attack on the Capitol, several Republicans, mostly freshmen members, refused to abide by a new security protocol and walk through metal detectors before entering the House chambers.
"To those that are violating the rules of the House, wanting to pack heat into the House chamber - which is against the law - I say fine them and prevent them from coming onto the floor," said Rep. Speier. "There is a group of people now in the House that are, I hate to say it but, akin to the insurrectionists. I mean, they don't want to play by anybody's rules and that does not bode well for the next two years."
Rep. Speier said the attack showed that domestic terrorism is still alive and well in the U.S. and needs to be dealt with swiftly.
