Retired general probing Capitol security breakdown said Hawley should be ‘run out of DC’
GOP lawmakers are criticizing the selection of a retired general to lead the U.S. House investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack because of a profane social media post about Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley.
“That little peace of shit with his @Yale law degree should be run out of DC and Disbarred ASAP,” Lt. General Russel Honoré said about Hawley on Twitter on Jan. 11, five days after the attack and four days before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tapped him to lead an an inquiry into the Capitol’s security breakdown.
Honoré is best known for leading the military’s response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Pelosi touted him as “a respected leader with experience dealing with crises” when she announced his selection last month.
But Republicans have called Honoré a partisan choice and pointed to his social media posts as a reason to question his independence and impartiality. The deleted tweet about Hawley is one of several posts by Honoré about Republican officeholders, which have drawn scrutiny from conservative media and lawmakers.
Honoré’s tweet about Hawley was in response to a post from Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe endorsing Hawley’s potential expulsion from the Senate.
Hawley has drawn widespread criticism as the first senator to announce plans to challenge President Joe Biden’s electoral victory, a move his critics say helped lead to the riot. He was also photographed raising his fist in solidarity to a crowd of former President Donald Trump’s supporters shortly before the deadly riot took place.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has emerged as one of Hawley’s most vocal defenders, singled out the tweet about Hawley as a cause for concern during his Wednesday broadcast.
“Run out of D.C. and disbarred? This is crazy,” Carlson said. “But this is the guy Nancy Pelosi has leading the security response to the Capitol riot. This should really worry you. Is this really about what happened in the Capitol on January 6th?”
Hawley then joined Carlson on air to criticize both Pelosi and Honoré.
“I’m concerned about what they’re laying the groundwork for here, what Nancy Pelosi is doing. I’m concerned that they continue to treat the January 6th catastrophe, that criminal riot as an excuse to seize power, to control more power, to step on people’s Second Amendment rights to take away their First Amendment rights,” Hawley said.
The segment also kicked off a wider push by conservatives to remove Honoré.
“General Honoré is an extreme partisan and should be the LAST person to head up an investigation of what happened at the Capitol on Jan 6th,” Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, a close ally of Hawley, said on Twitter minutes after the segment aired.
Pelosi’s office dismissed the onslaught of criticism against Honoré, which comes more than a month after his selection.
“General Honoré is committed public servant whose name is synonymous with integrity and professionalism,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said in a statement.
“His efforts to review the U.S. Capitol’s security infrastructure, interagency processes and procedures, and command and control have included seeking bipartisan input in order to achieve its mission,” Hammill said. “There is no room for partisanship in the Speaker’s efforts to make the U.S. Capitol a safe place for staff, workers, press and Members.”
During his interview on Carlson’s show, Hawley accused Honoré of supporting “violent rioting in our cities” and attacking federal law enforcement as a “mob.”
The comment appears to be in reference to a July interview with MSNBC in which the general questioned the tactics of federal officers sent to Portland by the Trump administration in response to civil unrest. The officers weren’t wearing identification showing their names or agencies and faced criticism for their use of force.
“They’re not representative of good law enforcement at all. They’re acting like an uncontrolled mob on the street with uniforms and badges that they don’t show,” Honoré said to host Brian Williams as footage from Portland played. “As you see right here, they beat this man. Police don’t do this. Watch this. What kind of bullshit is this?”
This story was originally published February 18, 2021 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Retired general probing Capitol security breakdown said Hawley should be ‘run out of DC’."
