Thread by @RepMaloney

8:30 AM: Arrive at Capitol early on the advice of the US Capitol Police. I’m joined by two staffers and am prepared to stay until we complete the job we came to do — certifying the free and fair results of the election despite Trump's Big Lie.

9:30 AM: Join Democratic Caucus call to discuss the various possible objections to state certifications. We were prepared for every possible procedural maneuver House and Senate Republicans might have tried.

⁓ 10:00 AM: Head down to the Capitol Post Office to mail some items to my district office. I’m informed that they are not making deliveries due to the expected protests. Things are calm at the moment with reduced staff and no planned business other than the certification vote.

11:30 AM: Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher C. Miller participates in a tabletop exercise on Department of Defense contingency response options.

12:00 PM: President Trump begins his speech. He repeats his Big Lie claims and states that he would walk with the crowd to the Capitol. Participants shout out calls to “storm the Capitol."
yahoo.com/now/trump-jan-…

12:49 PM: Capitol Police respond to a report of an explosive device at the RNC. A second pipe bomb is found at the DNC shortly afterward.

The terrorist responsible has yet to be caught.

https://twitter.com/FBI/status/1348811850939576320?s=20

12:53 PM: Rioters begin their assault on police. The outer perimeter is not visible from my office and we do not see these scenes before the insurrectionists blow past the first line of defense.

https://twitter.com/ElijahSchaffer/status/1346966514990149639?s=20

1:00 PM: VP Pence releases a letter stating that the Constitution prevents him from unilaterally interfering with the Electoral College vote count.

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1346880034536103938?s=20

1:05 PM: Congress meets in a joint session. I remain in my office and watch on tv to avoid any unnecessary exposure or spread of COVID19.

I often wonder if instead of the approx 100 House members in the Chamber that day all 435 had been present. Could we all still be evacuated?

1:10 PM: Trump ends his speech by encouraging the crowd to march to the Capitol: "We’re going to try and give them [Republicans] the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”

1:12 PM.: Rep. Paul Gosar and Sen. Ted Cruz object to certifying the votes from Arizona. They receive a standing ovation from the Republican side of the aisle. The joint session separates into House and Senate chambers to debate the objection.

https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1346884636698357760?s=20

1:26 PM: The U.S. Capitol Police order evacuation of the Cannon House Office Building and the Madison Building of the Library of Congress. The mob is now clearly visible from my office.

We lock all of the doors. We begin to receive texts, emails, and calls checking in on us.

⁓1:30 PM: We remove the escape hoods, essentially gas masks, and first aid kits from storage and place them on the conference table in my office for easy access if a need arises.

1:34 PM: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser requests via phone that Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy provide additional forces. This is the first of at least 12 such requests from Capitol Police, MPD, and city officials.

This would have been a good time to deploy the National Guard.

1:35 PM: In the Senate, Mitch McConnell warns that refusing to certify the results of the presidential election under false pretenses would push American democracy into a "death spiral".

It's astounding how easily Rs try to brush off Jan 6 a year later.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1346888522825932802?s=20

1:49 PM: Capitol Police Chief Sund requests immediate assistance from the DC National Guard. Guardsmen are loaded onto buses and are prepared to deploy once permission is granted.

This would have been a good time to deploy the guard.

1:50 PM: We can hear loud pops from the West Front of the Capitol. Smoke begins to billow the air above the mob. A riot is officially declared.

1:59 PM: The rioters reach the Capitol's doors and windows. This was a turning point in the day.

From our vantage point it seemed that Capitol Police was able to fend off the rioters. This was the first clear indication that they were being overrun.

https://twitter.com/jim_newell/status/1346899789347233796?s=20

2:10 PM: Chief Sund again contacts the DC National Guard “to request immediate assistance and stated 200 Guardsmen were needed and to send more if they are available.”

This would have been a good time to deploy the National Guard.

2:12 PM: The first rioters enter the Capitol through a window they smashed open.

https://twitter.com/BGOnTheScene/status/1346904244008456193?s=20

2:13 PM: Vice President Pence is removed from the Senate chamber and the Senate is gavelled into recess.

https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1346899163615813634?s=20

2:14 PM: Officer Eugene Goodman faces the mob by himself. Outnumbered, he uses his wit to keep the mob away from the Senate doors.

If they had arrived about a minute earlier, they would have been in sight of VP Pence as he was being evacuated.

https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/1346911809274478594?s=20

2:14 PM: Army Secretary McCarthy instructs DC National Guard to “standby.”

This would have been a good time to deploy the National Guard.

2:19 PM: DC officials advise the DC National Guard that “U.S. Capitol building windows are being broken” and request that D.C. National Guard members “report to the U.S. Capitol immediately.”

This would have been a good time to deploy the National Guard.

2:20 PM: The House is gaveled into recess and begins to evacuate. I will never forget the sight of Speaker Pelosi being whisked away by her security detail.

https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1346903578435321860?s=20

2:24 PM: Trump tweets an attack against his own Vice President who is being hunted by a mob chanting to hang Mike Pence. It is safe to assume that Trump was looking at the same images as the rest of us and had an idea of the danger the VP was in.

⁓2:25 p.m.: Army Secretary McCarthy ordered staff to prepare movement of the emergency reaction force, but to remain at the Armory until he confirmed approval from Acting [Defense Secretary Miller].”

This would have been a good time to deploy the National Guard.

2:30 PM: Secretary Miller, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and Army Secretary McCarthy meet to discuss Capitol Police and D.C. government requests.

This would have been a good time to deploy the National Guard.

2:44 PM: Rioter Ashli Babbitt is shot by Capitol Police while attempting to forcibly enter the Speaker's Lobby as members are being evacuated from the House floor.

3:04 PM: Secretary Miller, formally approves "activation" of the DC National Guard. This is not permission to deploy, just to call up National Guard forces to head to the Armory.

This would have been a good time to deploy the National Guard.

4:05 PM: President-elect Biden holds a press conference calling on President Trump to "demand an end to this siege".

https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1346932050746630149?s=20

4:08 PM: Vice President Pence speaks with Acting Secretary of Defense Miller and directs him to “clear the Capitol.”

Something President Trump should have done from the safety of the White House hours earlier.

4:17 p.m.: Trump uploads a video to his Twitter repeating his Big Lie claims and telling the rioters, “we love you.”

4:32 PM: Defense Secretary Miller finally authorizes DC National Guard to actually deploy in support of Capitol Police.

5:08 PM: DC National Guard receives the Secretary of Defense's permission to deploy to the Capitol.

5:20 PM: Within 12 minutes of receiving permission, the DC National Guard arrives at the Capitol roughly 4 hours after being requested and more than 3 hours after being prepared to deploy.

⁓ 5:45 PM: We learn of a staffer next door from my office who has been all alone throughout the insurrection as his boss had been on the floor. We quickly rush him into our office for some added peace of mind.

6:00 PM: D.C. curfew comes into effect. It seems that the Capitol has been mostly cleared by this point. I begin taking calls from the press to update my constituents on what is happening. It helps to keep busy as we try to process what just happened.

6:01 PM: President Trump again tweets his Big Lie claims and does not denounce the rioters who came in his name.

⁓ 7:00 PM: Facebook and Twitter remove President Trump's posts.

8:00 PM: U.S. Capitol Police declare the Capitol building to be secure.

⁓ 8:15 PM: I leave the office for the first time in 10 hours and head to the Capitol building where there is food waiting for us. There is destruction all around the building. I return back to my office with a pizza for staff.

9:00 PM: Speaker Pelosi reopens the House debate. We were determined to finish the job we had come to do and we were not going to leave until it was done.

10:15 PM: The Senate votes 93–6 against the objection raised by a handful of Republican senators against the counting of Arizona's electoral votes.

11:00 PM: I head down to the House Chamber for the first time that day to vote on the objection to Arizona’s electoral vote. Dedicated congressional staff are already at work repairing the damage caused that day.

11:30 PM: The House votes 303–121 to reject the objection to Arizona's electoral votes. Whatever hope there was that Rs would let go of the Big Lie in the wake of the mayhem it caused was dashed as a majority of the House GOP gave in to the insurrectionists’ demands.

12:15 AM: Republican Rep Scott Perry and Senator Josh Hawley object to the counting of Pennsylvania's electoral votes, triggering a two-hour debate in both chambers.

12:55 AM: The Senate rejects, 92–7, the objection raised by a handful of Republican senators against the counting of Pennsylvania's electoral votes.

3:10 AM: The House rejects, 282–138, the Republican objection against the counting of Pennsylvania's electoral votes.

3:24 AM: After all the objections are rejected, Congress completes the counting of the electoral votes, with Biden winning, 306–232; Vice President Pence affirms the election result, formally declaring Biden the winner.

⁓3:30 AM: I take one last look at the Capitol before leaving with my staff. Our democracy, like the building, is deeply damaged but still standing. It is clear that January 6 will not mark the end of the attacks on our democracy.

⁓ 11:30 AM: I return to the Capitol. As construction crews and the brave members of the Capitol Police and National Guard secure the Capitol Complex, we begin our work to protect our democracy.