DOJ Watchdog Nominee Refuses to Call Jan. 6 an Attack at Senate Hearing
Updated
Updated · CNN · Jun 17
DOJ Watchdog Nominee Refuses to Call Jan. 6 an Attack at Senate Hearing
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Jun 17
Summary
Don Berthiaume repeatedly declined at his confirmation hearing to describe the January 6, 2021 Capitol violence as an “attack,” saying the term suggested a coordinated effort he did not see.
Richard Blumenthal pressed the Trump nominee on both January 6 and the 2020 election, casting the questions as a test of whether Berthiaume would act independently as Justice Department inspector general.
Berthiaume instead said Joe Biden had been “certified” as the 2020 winner, denied coordinating that answer with the White House, and acknowledged people unlawfully entered the Capitol and that physical violence occurred outside.
The exchange lands as Trump has already weakened inspector-general offices through mass firings that a federal court said likely violated the law, though the court stopped short of reinstating the ousted watchdogs.
Created in the 1970s after Watergate, the DOJ inspector general post is meant to investigate waste, fraud and abuse inside the department, making the nominee’s independence central to the confirmation fight.