The hearing featured Harry Dunn, a former U.S. Capitol Police Officer, and Daniel Hodges, an MPD Officer, both who were brutally attacked by insurrectionists
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned witnesses during a Senate Democratic spotlight hearing entitled “Clear and Present Danger: The Trump Administration’s Whitewashing of the January 6th Insurrection.” Durbin first questioned Mike Romano, a former Deputy Chief of the Capitol Siege Section of the D.C.U.S. Attorney’s Office and member of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Public Integrity Unit, and Sara Levine, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Capitol Siege Section of the D.C, about Ed Martin—President Trump’s pick for U.S. Attorney in D.C.
“Ed Martin’s nomination to be [the] U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia is pending before this Committee. I want to understand how you [were] assigned to these [January 6] cases initially, how you executed them, if there was anything unusual in your duties, and responsibilities, and Ed Martin’s personal involvement—if there was any. And how you were terminated from the office,”said Durbin.
Ms. Levine stated that she came to work for the U.S. Attorney’s Office specifically for the Capitol Siege Section. While there, she worked on about 40 cases. Ms. Levine was terminated from the Justice Department as a result of her work on the January 6 cases.
Mr. Romano responded that he joined the Capitol Siege Section in February of 2021. He stated, “I knew from talking with some of my former colleagues at the U.S. Attorney’s Office that there was going to be a call that went out to other parts of the Justice Department for people to staff this effort. There was a sense that there needed to be many more people assigned to prosecute these cases nationwide.” Mr. Romano worked on about 20 cases before being elevated to Deputy Chief.
Durbin has continuously called out Mr. Martin’s long record of objectionable statements and conduct. This includes: Mr. Martin repeatedly attacking law enforcement officers who kept members and staff safe during the January 6 insurrection and the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who were assigned to prosecute the rioters who brutally attacked police officers; Mr. Martin calling Michael Fanone, a 20-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department who was nearly killed on January 6, “a fake cop”; Mr. Martin advocating for “less judgment on somebody who hit a cop” on January 6; Mr. Martin repeatedly attacking prosecutors who were assigned to work on January 6 cases, calling them “terrorists” and “despicable people who decided to do something wrong”; and Mr. Martin’s close relationship with Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, a January 6 rioter and Nazi sympathizer whom he called an “extraordinary man, an extraordinary leader” who is “worthy of being listened to by lots of folks.”
“Can you tell me in regards to the individuals you prosecuted—do any of them have criminal records?” Durbin asked.
Mr. Romano responded that yes, some of them did have criminal records prior to the January 6 insurrection.
“I can’t tell you how many cases have been filed against these individuals after [President Trump’s] pardons… In Central Illinois, there was a murder case involving one of these defendants. Clearly some of them had criminal records coming into this experience,” said Durbin.
The hearing focused on honoring the law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol; acknowledging the work of the prosecutors who brought the January 6 insurrectionists to justice in the years following the attack; and condemning President Trump’s dangerous and reckless decision to commute the sentences of 14 individuals and grant a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to the nearly 1,500 other individuals charged or convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Video of Durbin’s questions in the hearing is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s questions in the hearing is available here.
Durbin concluded the hearing by stating, “You were not just witnesses to history, you are history. You’ve lived it [and] you’ve lived the aftermath as well. I can’t think of another event in my lifetime that has been subject to such historic revisionism [where the Administration] is trying to rewrite January 6… Those of us in the building know what we saw and what we lived through… Because this event was of such historic importance, we cannot let the truth die. We have to come together regularly and tell the truth to the American people.”
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