We worked for Bob Dole. Congress is dodging accountability for the January 6 riot

When I worked as Sen. Bob Dole’s press secretary in the late 1970s and early ‘80s, fellow staffer Ernie Garcia was one of the senator’s most stalwart and trusted aides. Ernie handled veterans issues, served as a liaison with the Hispanic community and eventually took charge of Dole’s Kansas office.

He was never one to exaggerate, embellish or waver under pressure. He subsequently carried those traits into the position of the Senate’s sergeant at arms from 1985 to 1988.

Thus, when I ran into Ernie at Sen. Dole’s funeral a few weeks ago and he expressed frustration regarding congressional investigations into the events of Jan. 6, when an angry mob broke into the U.S. Capitol, it was noteworthy.

In the months since the insurrection, Congress has launched investigations, called witnesses, issued subpoenas and held numerous press briefings. Some of these investigations are still ongoing.

But some work has been completed. Last June, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Committee on Rules and Administration jointly issued a staff report. Titled, “Examining the U.S. Capitol Attack: A Review of the Security, Planning, and Response Failures of Jan. 6,” it goes into great detail regarding the inability of various intelligence agencies to effectively communicate amongst themselves.

The report criticizes the Capitol Police and the Senate and House sergeants at arms. It also includes a number of recommendations designed to ensure nothing similar to the events of Jan. 6 happens in the future.

What it doesn’t include, according to Garcia, is an examination of the oversight role Congress plays in setting the parameters under which the Capitol Police and sergeants at arms operate.

For the first time, the Overland Park resident feels compelled to speak out.

According to Garcia, members of Congress — specifically members of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, currently headed by Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt — need to examine their own culpability.

“There is a story to tell about how the office of the U.S. Senate sergeant at mrms operates and how it prepares and executes its responsibilities,” says Garcia. “My view is that the sergeant at arms and Capitol Police chief served as scapegoats when it came to assigning blame regarding the security failures of Jan. 6.”

“As a former U.S. Senate sergeant at arms, I can tell you that the Senate and House oversight committees have the ultimate responsibility to ensure the security of Congress members and the U.S. Capitol,” says Garcia.

“I went before the Senate Rules Committee each year. It was a rigorous process, with probing questions regarding security readiness and the ability to meet potential threats,” he says. “If the committee is not satisfied with the answers, they have the power and the responsibility to probe deeper,” Garcia added.

Garcia points out that then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who sits on the Rules Committee, said he would fire then-Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael C. Stenger immediately upon becoming majority leader. Stenger technically resigned.

Garcia insists he is not being partisan. He believes both parties are dodging responsibility.

“There was never anything said, at the time, or in the Senate report, or at any time since, about the failure of the oversight committee to do their job,” says Garcia. “Chuck Schumer, Patrick Leahy, Amy Klobuchar, Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, among others, sat on the Senate Rules Committee when the attack occurred. Where is the accountability?”

Garcia does not question the various congressional probes into the riot’s origins or its instigators. He just thinks Congress also needs to look in the mirror.

Perhaps it was too much to expect the Senate staffers writing the report reviewing the security failures at the Capitol on Jan. 6 to have pointed a finger at their bosses.

But Ernie Garcia is doing so.

“I just can’t stand the hypocrisy,” he concludes.