Republican Defends Jan 6. Prisoners

Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA.) is working alongside the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, James Comer (R-KY.), to plan a trip for Congressional Republicans to visit January 6 defendants being held at a Washington, D.C. jail.

Greene is leading the effort.

Greene and Comer said that the letter to schedule the visit would be released on Thursday (March 9).

Greene added the letter would be addressed to “multiple people,” enabling them to know who plans to join.

Comer explained he was working with Greene to draft the letter as he would with any member in his Committee on matters that interest them.

Greene, who has previously toured the jail where January 6 defendants are being held, explained the visiting members of Congress would “be addressing the human rights abuse,” claiming those held at the jail have been “held in solitary confinement up to 23 hours a day” and had been denied visits from their family.

Greene also alleged defendants didn’t have access to working toilets.

Greene is the only Congressional Republican decrying the conditions at the D.C. jail; others have also lamented the conditions and questioned why defendants were being held without bail.

Last year, about three dozen January 6 detainees requested a transfer to the U.S. Detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, because of the conditions in the D.C. jail, which included being exposed to black mold and having worms in their food.

However, when asked about the trip at a press conference on Wednesday (March 8), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA.) said he didn’t know if there’d be a trip before pivoting to committees looking into the abuse of power at some agencies.