‘Disgusted and horrified.’ Rep. Newhouse condemns U.S. Capitol violence

Rep. Dan Newhouse was at his desk on the floor of the U.S. House on Wednesday when security officers swept in.

They quickly evacuated the congressional members to secret, windowless rooms where they could be protected from armed protesters storming the Capitol building.

“We are all in a state of disbelief,” said the Eastern Washington Republican during a news conference a few hours later. “I am disappointed, disgusted and horrified. This is not the United States of America.”

Debate had just begun in the U.S. House on Wednesday morning when Newhouse received word that his office, including his staff and his wife, were being evacuated to a safer place.

Soon after, he heard the Capitol was being emptied.

From a small office in an undisclosed location, he watched what was happening like everyone else through media reports.

Outside, Capitol police were being overrun by thousands of protesters looking to halt the confirmation of Vice President Joe Biden’s election victory.

Everyone from Newhouse’s office is safe, and he said he is grateful for the hard work of the Capitol police. He believed with the arrival of more law enforcement officers and the National Guard and a curfew in Washington, D.C., the Electoral College count would be finished Wednesday night.

“Violence of any kind in order to try to affect change is absolutely unacceptable and works against the goals that people are trying to put forward,” he said. “I can’t say that strongly enough.”

Richland native and Trump’s former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis also issued a statement condemning the violence and blaming the riot on the president.

Mattis called it an “effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule.”

“His use of the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice,” said Mattis.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Spokane Republican, also posted a statement on Twitter.

“Stop these attacks on Capitol Police who serve to protect the People’s house,” McMorris Rodgers said in her message. “Protesting peacefully is your right. Violence and aggression and breaching security perimeters are not. Stop this now.”

Newhouse and McMorris Rodgers previously raised questions about the legitimacy of the November election results. They also signed onto a brief supporting a Texas lawsuit contesting the results in four states.

However, on Monday, Newhouse said Congress didn’t have the constitutional power to object to the Electoral College decision and didn’t plan to object on Wednesday.

McMorris Rodgers had said she planned to object but after Wednesday’s violence she announced she would not.

Newhouse encouraged people to continue to talk with people who they may disagree with. If there is a silver lining to Wednesday’s riot, he believes it will motivate people to turn away from social media and start talking with their neighbors.

“I’ve been very active in different groups to work with people I disagree with,” he said. “It’s not easy work, but that’s what we have to do.”

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, also called for the Congress to get back to the business of approving the electoral vote count. Earlier in the day, she struck out at the “hate-fueled violence” at the Capitol in a Wednesday Tweet.

She called for the president to be removed from office for what she believes is his role in the violence.

“This violent mob and the President who stoked their rage must be held accountable. They should not be allowed to delay our democratic processes for a minute longer,” she said.

This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 12:57 PM.