WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch which oversees the United States Capitol Police, on Thursday held a virtual press conference via Zoom. Murphy discussed yesterday’s breach and attack on the U.S. Capitol incited by President Trump as the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate fulfilled their constitutional duty to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

On the insurrection at the Capitol yesterday, Murphy said: “What happened at the Capitol yesterday was an abomination. It was no less than an insurrection mounted against our federal government inspired and egged on by the President of the United States and his enablers in Congress. Donald Trump may have lit the match that caused those protesters to march onto the Capitol, break through barriers, break through windows and doors, and seek to do harm to members of Congress. But the bonfire that Donald Trump lit, it was prepared by members of Congress, by members of the House and the Senate, who decided to raise objections to the certification of the electoral college and create an expectation amongst those protesters that, by joining into this effort, they could perhaps keep Donald Trump in office for another four years.”

As Ranking Member of the Legislative Subcommittee on the Appropriations Committee which overseas Capitol Police, Murphy said: “I have had, now, two separate fairly long conversations with the chief of Capitol Police and then another long conversation with the Secretary of the Army. I've been in contact throughout the last 12 hours with Chairman Ryan in the House, Senator Schumer and Senator Schumer's office. I don't know exactly what a full investigative process will look like, but clearly we need to make serious changes to the way that our Capitol is defended and we need to start implementing those changes now. The primary responsibility for yesterday's insurrection, yesterday's breach of the Capitol lies with the perpetrators, Donald Trump, and his enablers in Congress.”

Murphy continued: “We have to ask ourselves some questions. Why are we spending $700 billion on the military every year if the military can't effectively defend the United States Capitol from attack? I know this is different than a foreign attack. I am learning today how many different protocols are in place, how many different signatures need to be made in order to get the Department of Defense to arrive on the Capitol ground, but we need to take a serious look at why the Capitol Police and the Municipal Police were left to battle protesters for over an hour before the breach of the building took place without any assistance from the Department of Defense. And then why it took several more hours for any help to come from the National Guard.”

On the need to remove Donald Trump from office, Murphy said: “I am absolutely supportive of an effort to invoke the 25th amendment, and I would be supportive of efforts to remove the President via impeachment. I think that this President is unhinged; he is unstable; he is angry. And we can't assume that he isn't going to try to find new ways to rally his supporters in another insurrection against the government, whether it be in Washington or in our state capitals. I think this is an incredibly perilous moment for democracy.”

On the lack of accountability for rioters yesterday, who faced little repercussions for their actions from Capitol Police, Murphy said: “You know, those folks walking into the Capitol yesterday, they felt like they were acting without repercussions. Some of them were taking selfies with police officers. And while I think we have to sort of dive deep into the tick tock of what happened to understand why there perhaps weren't more confrontations inside that building.”

On a reassessment of how Congress appropriates money for Capitol Police, Murphy said: “You know, we spend a lot of money on the Capitol Police—we have provided them with very significant funding increases in the last few years. And, you know, for one reason or another, the Capitol Police could not protect us from attack at an incredibly dangerous moment where Mike Pence, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Grassley—one, two and three in the line of succession—were inside the building. So yeah, we have to ask these questions about—are we spending money in the right way on the Capitol Police and what are we getting in return? But again, I asked the same question about the Department of Defense. I don't chair that subcommittee, but I'm on the Appropriations Committee. I hope to be a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in the next Congress. And I'm going to be asking the same question the Department of Defense. Why the hell are we spending $700 billion on DOD if they can't defend the Capitol? It shouldn't just be up to the Capitol Police, especially when there are 10,000 people marching on us.”

A full transcript of Murphy’s opening remarks are below and you can listen to the question and answer session here:

“I think many of us are exhausted today after a long and harrowing day yesterday. What happened at the Capitol yesterday was an abomination. It was no less than an insurrection mounted against our federal government, inspired and egged on by the President of the United States and his enablers in Congress.

“Donald Trump may have lit the match that caused those protesters to march onto the Capitol, break through barriers, break through windows and doors, and seek to do harm to members of Congress. But the bonfire that Donald Trump lit, it was prepared by members of Congress, by members of the House and the Senate, who decided to raise objections to the certification of the electoral college and create an expectation amongst those protesters that, by joining into this effort, they could perhaps keep Donald Trump in office for another four years.

“I'm glad that they were not successful. I will say I was really proud of most of my colleagues yesterday. We spent a lot of time together behind closed doors in a secure room and there was effective unanimity amongst senators that we needed to get back into that chamber as soon as possible to get the people's work done, and I was glad that the house came to the same conclusion. 

“I'm also glad that a handful of my colleagues decided to switch their votes. We were engaged in pretty active conversations with many of the members who had planned to object to the certification or the Electoral College in that secure room, and I'm glad some of those conversations did contribute to some of my colleagues changing their disposition.

“At the same time, we should have never been in that position yesterday. Donald Trump should have never instigated these individuals to march on the United States Capitol knowing full well what may transpire. And my colleagues should have never created the belief amongst that crowd that there was any hope of Donald Trump remaining President of the United States.

“I serve as a member of Congress, as a member of the Senate from Connecticut, but I'm also the Ranking Member of the Legislative Subcommittee on the Appropriations Committee. And in that role, I have had, now, two separate fairly long conversations with the chief of Capitol Police and then another long conversation with the Secretary of the Army. I've been in contact throughout the last 12 hours with Chairman Ryan in the House, Senator Schumer and Senator Schumer's office.

“I don't know exactly what a full investigative process will look like, but clearly we need to make serious changes to the way that our Capitol is defended and we need to start implementing those changes now. The primary responsibility for yesterday's insurrection, yesterday's breach of the Capitol, lies with the perpetrators, Donald Trump, and his enablers in Congress.

“But we do have to ask questions as to how that breach occurred, what changes in Capitol security we need to make in order to assure it doesn't happen again, and why it took so long for the United States military to come to the aid of the legislative branch. Inside that building yesterday were the top three people in the line of succession to become president, and it took nearly three hours for any Department of Defense response to arrive at the Capitol.

“We have to ask ourselves some questions. Why are we spending $700 billion on the military every year if the military can't effectively defend the United States Capitol from attack? I know this is different than a foreign attack. I am learning today how many different protocols are in place, how many different signatures need to be made in order to get the Department of Defense to arrive on the Capitol ground, but we need to take a serious look at why the Capitol Police and the Municipal Police were left to battle protesters for over an hour before the breach of the building took place without any assistance from the Department of Defense. And then why it took several more hours for any help to come from the National Guard.

“We can't rely on having advanced intelligence. I think that the Capitol Police should have pre-positioned more assets, I think they should have requested more help. But we shouldn't have to wait four hours to get Department of Defense assistance when the United States Capitol is under attack. So we've got a lot of questions that we need to ask and we don't have the luxury of time. The sense of impunity that many of these attackers have, by virtue of the fact that only 14 arrests were made on the Capitol grounds yesterday, means they might come back.

“We already know we have very little visibility into their means of planning. We know that the inauguration is around the corner and it would stand to reason that there will be another large gathering on that day as well. We've got to make some changes and make some changes very quickly. And I've been in discussions all day today with House colleagues, with my Senate colleagues, and with the Capitol Police and the Department of Defense to make sure that we take steps to implement those changes.

“So with that, I know there's a whole bunch of other topics we haven't covered here, but I'm glad to take questions.”

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