Washington, D.C.

"Immediately seek shelter in the closest office. Remain quiet and await further directions."

"There is a sort of an unwritten code in Washington, among the underworld and the hustlers and these other guys that I am their friend."

"Washington is the most intensely parochial city in the world."

"Before me stands monuments of the greatest and the goodness of our nation— monuments of light and liberty. There is a towering memorial to George Washington. The general who led our revolution, the president who set our nation on its course. There’s a memorial to Thomas Jefferson, whose words about liberty and equality literally changed the world. And across the tidal basin from the Jefferson memorial, there stands Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his arms crossed, his eyes fixed ahead toward the promised land where equality is not only an aspiration but a reality. They help define who we are. Guide what we do. Remind us of the work that history has given us in our own time."

"WASHINGTONIAN, n. A Potomac tribesman who exchanged the privilege of governing himself for the advantage of good government. In justice to him it should be said that he did not want to."

"The global role of the United States is perhaps the ultimate chapter in that long period of European expansion which had begun in western Europe, and especially on the Atlantic seaboard, during the 15th century. Europe slowly had outgrown its homeland. Its cultural empire eventually formed a long band traversing most of the Northern Hemisphere and dipping far into the Southern. The modern hub of the peoples and ideas of European origin is now New York as much as Paris, or Los Angeles as much as London. In the history of the European peoples the city of Washington is perhaps what Constantinople - the infant city of Emperor Constantine - was to the last phase of the Roman Empire; for it is unlikely that Europeans, a century hence, will continue to stamp the world so decisively with their ideas and inventions."

"In the city of Washington, where virtue dies in the immoral sewage as it putrefies, those who tell the most brazen, despicable lies, and accumulate sound bites that self-aggrandize, trade their souls in for power that they exercise for their personal profit, to no great surprise."

"The center of American ideas is Washington, D.C."

"Too small to be a state but too large to be an asylum for the mentally deranged."

"I'm hopeful. I know there is a lot of ambition in Washington, obviously. But I hope the ambitious realize that they are more likely to succeed with success as opposed to failure."

"[T]here is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town."

"Washington isn’t like everywhere else. The city’s economy is tied directly to the size of the federal budget, which has grown virtually without pause since the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The District of Columbia and its surrounding suburbs are now the wealthiest metro region in the country. Washington’s job market is effectively bulletproof. Political figures cycle in and out of government, from lobbying to finance to contracting and back, growing richer at every turn. In Washington, prosperity is all but guaranteed. To the rest of the country, this looks like corruption, because, essentially, it is. But if you live there, it’s all upside. The most interesting effect of uninterrupted economic growth is that the culture of the city remains unusually stable. Even as Washington’s population has grown exponentially over the years, many things about the city haven’t changed at all. Most of the affluent neighborhoods look the same demographically as they did in 1960. Mothers don’t work. Divorce is unusual. Housing prices almost never fall. It’s a cultural time capsule. By voter registration, D.C. is the most Democratic city in America. Yet the instincts of the people who live there are deeply conservative. Washingtonians hate change. More than anything, they hate to be told they’re wrong, or their ideas are stupid, especially when they are."

"We have built no national temples but the Capitol; we consult no common oracle but the Constitution."

"If I wanted to go crazy I would do it in Washington because it would not be noticed."

"We need to make D.C. listen."

"Abigail Adams: Half-fed slaves building our nation's capital. What possible good can come from such a place?"

"After much menutial search for an elligible situation, prompted I may say from a fear of being prejudiced in favour of a first opinion I could discover no one so advantageously to greet the congressional building as is that on the west end of Jenkins heights which stand as a pedestal waiting for a monument, and I am confident, were all the wood cleared from the ground no situation could stand in competition with this. some might perhaps require less labour to be rendered agreeable but after all assistance of arts none ever would be made so grand and all other would appear but of secondary nature."

"Just applied to an apartment in DC where I told the guy that my credit was really bad. He said I’d be fine. Got denied, lost the apartment, and the application fee. This ain’t meant for people who don’t already have money"

"An incumbent in Washington knows he is in trouble on the day that cartoonists begin to represent him as a king."

"Washington is a city where dwell many of the first men of the land, and the women they married when they were young."

"Somebody once said that Washington was a city of Northern charm and Southern efficiency."

"Back in about 1753 it took a letter three days to go from New York City to Washington, and today you can go from here to China in less time than that... Man's scientific genius has been amazing."

"A gaffe in Washington is when a politician inadvertently reveals the truth, especially about himself."

"But it is dreaded that the freed people will swarm forth and cover the whole land. Are they not already in the land? Will liberation make them any more numerous? Equally distributed among the whites of the whole country, and there would be but one colored to seven whites. Could the one in any way greatly disturb the seven? There are many communities now having more than one free colored person to seven whites and this without any apparent consciousness of evil from it. The District of Columbia and the States of Maryland and Delaware are all in this condition. The District has more than one free colored to six whites, and yet in its frequent petitions to Congress I believe it has never presented the presence of free colored persons as one of its grievances. But why should emancipation South send the free people North? People of any color seldom run unless there be something to run from. Hertofore colored people to some extent have fled North from bondage, and now, perhaps, from both bondage and destitution."

"If people see the Capitol going on, it is a sign we intend the Union shall go on."

"So I came to Washington, where I knew I would be farther away from America than I could be on some foreign shore; not that I do not respect this as a good part of America but in its general routine the heart of America is felt less here than at any place I have ever been."

"During the hours of the curfew, no person, other than persons designated by the Mayor, shall walk, bike, run, loiter, stand, or motor by car or other mode of transport upon any street, alley, park, or other public place within the District"

"ask yourself why *any* US citizen is denied the right to vote bc of where they live. Even US citizens living ABROAD have the right to vote but US citizens in Puerto Rico cannot. It’s colonialism. And in the case of DC, racism."

"We can't even straighten up our capital in terms of crime."

"This is truly the capital... And the capital of the most important nation in the world—so there is more protocol here... If you want to know who next U.S. president will be, you cannot stay within the beltway... I always tell my staff that this is a big country with a history."

"Everyone was somebody’s cousin, or uncle, or bedmate, or best college friend. Sometimes he felt that the whole of Washington was glued together into one vast, incestuous, and inefficient snotball."

"In Washington, the clearer a statement is, the more certain it is to be followed by a "clarification" when people realize what was said."

"If there is one thing that is bipartisan in Washington, it is brazen hypocrisy."

"[George] Washington intended this to be a Federal city, and it is a Federal city, and it tingles down to the feet of every man, whether he comes from Washington State, or Los Angeles, or Texas, when he comes and walks these city streets and begins to feel that this is my city; I own a part of this Capital, and I envy for the time being those who are able to spend their time here. I quite admit that there are defects in the system of government by which Congress is bound to look after the government of the District of Columbia. It could not be otherwise under such a system, but I submit to the judgment of history that the result vindicates the foresight of the fathers."

"Now, I am opposed to the franchise in the District [of Columbia]; I am opposed, and not because I yield to any one in my support and belief in the principles of self-government; but principles are applicable generally, and then, unless you make exceptions to the application of these principles, you will find that they will carry you to very illogical and absurd results. This was taken out of the application of the principle of self-government in the very Constitution that was intended to put that in force in every other part of the country, and it was done because it was intended to have the representatives of all the people in the country control this one city, and to prevent its being controlled by the parochial spirit that would necessarily govern men who did not look beyond the city to the grandeur of the nation, and this as the representative of that nation."

"D.C. you could be the end of me."

"To my eye, there is more American greatness in a New England town hall than in all of Washington, and more American greatness in an Oregon apple orchard or a Rotary meeting than there is in all the tanks and rockets that ever have been."

"We start from scratch, every generation. History does not bend inevitably toward justice, or freedom, or decency, or even stability. History doesn’t do that in Hong Kong, or in Moscow, or in Washington or New York City or Los Angeles. History goes where we push it. And if we don’t push, someone else will."

"During the Civil War, one of the nation's leading abolitionists was Republican Senator Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, who would later serve as vice president during President Grant's second term. In December 1861, Mr. Wilson introduced a bill to abolish slavery in the District. The measure met with parliamentary obstacles from the adamantly pro-slavery Democratic Party, whom Republicans in those days referred to as the 'Slave-ocrats'. Most Democrats in Congress having resigned in order to join the Confederate rebellion, Wilson's measure sailed through the Senate. The abolitionist senator responsible for outmaneuvering Democrat opposition was Ben Wade, the Ohio Republican who six years later would have assumed the presidency had the bitterly racist Democratic President, Andrew Johnson, been convicted during his impeachment trial. In the House of Representatives, Democrats delayed passage with a series of stalling tactics. Finally, the majority leader, Thaddeus Stevens, bulldozed over Democrat opposition by calling the House into a committee of the whole. He stopped all other business in the House until Democrats relented and allowed a vote on the bill. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, is best known for his 'forty acres and a mule' proposal. Overall, 99 percent of Republicans in Congress voted to free the slaves in the District of Columbia, and 83 percent of Democrats voted to keep them in chains."

"[I] came into this world kicking and screaming, covered in someone else’s blood [and was] not afraid to go out the same way"

"Either they take Trump …[or] we’ll light the whole shit on fire!"

"Heavily armed police have secured the U.S. Capitol nearly four hours after supporters of President Donald Trump pushed past barricades and forced themselves inside the complex on Wednesday, amid violent clashes that killed at least one person"

"From my perspective, any police officer sworn to protect the constitution and the rule of law [who is] found to have engaged in the attack on the Capitol will be facing some very severe sanctions. To think that there were police officers who participated in this plot against our country and this attack against our country, it’s heart-wrenching. It’s a fireable offense. The nature of the threat is unprecedented. The threat is not just to the capitol or to the inauguration. The threat is to the government itself... I would caution these unions to remember that they exists to protect officer’s rights but primarily to protect them from misconduct or allegations when they’re working"

"Orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable … The President’s conduct yesterday was a betrayal of his office and supporters."

"Today we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy. The people—the will of the people has been heard, and the will of the people has been heeded. We've learned again that democracy is precious, democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed. So now, on this hallowed ground where just a few days ago violence sought to shake the Capitol's very foundation, we come together as one Nation under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power as we have for more than two centuries. As we look ahead in our uniquely American way—restless, bold, optimistic—and set our sights on the Nation we know we can be and we must be, I thank my predecessors of both parties for their presence here today. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. And I know the resilience of our Constitution and the strength, the strength of our Nation, as does President Carter, who I spoke with last night, who cannot be with us today, but whom we salute for his lifetime of service."

"Laura and I are watching the scenes of mayhem unfolding at the seat of our Nation's government in disbelief and dismay. It is a sickening and heartbreaking sight. This is how election results are disputed in a banana republic — not our democratic republic. I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election and by the lack of respect shown today for our institutions, our traditions, and our law enforcement. The violent assault on the Capitol — and disruption of a Constitutionally-mandated meeting of Congress — was undertaken by people whose passions have been inflamed by falsehoods and false hopes. In the United States of America, it is the fundamental responsibility of every patriotic citizen to support the rule of law. To those who are disappointed in the results of the election: Our country is more important than the politics of the moment. Let the officials elected by the people fulfill their duties and represent our voices in peace and safety. May God continue to bless the United States of America."

"There was no arson, there was no burning of anything, there was no looting, there was very little destruction of property... It was a bunch of pissed-off people that feel an election was stolen, somehow, some way... If the worst crime here is trespassing, so be it... [the rioters were] entitled to voice their frustration"

"The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not."

"One adult female and two adult males appear to have suffered from separate medical emergencies, which resulted in their deaths. Any loss of life in the District is tragic and our thoughts are with anyone impacted by their loss,"

"[A]n NPR analysis has found that nearly 1 in 5 people charged over their alleged involvement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol appear to have a military history. NPR compiled a list of individuals facing federal or District of Columbia charges in connection with the events of Jan. 6. Of more than 140 charged so far, a review of military records, social media accounts, court documents and news reports indicate at least 27 of those charged, or nearly 20%, have served or are currently serving in the U.S. military. To put that number in perspective, only about 7% of all American adults are military veterans, according to the U.S. Census Bureau."

"Officials are... looking at the bigger picture to identify if the riot was a coordinated effort between those inside and outside of the Capitol. "That is a tier 1, top priority for the U.S. attorney and federal law enforcement—to see if there was an overarching command and control and organized teams to breach the Capitol and accomplished some type of mission inside the Capitol," Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told reporters Friday. Sherwin said he expected the over 275 suspects to turn into 300 by the end of the day and "exponentially increase" over the weekend and into next week. Officials attributed the success of the investigation partially to the American public's help."

"Fast forward, I’m watching the television the morning of the 6th and I see Don Junior get up there. And then I hear the president get up there and go off on Pence. I literally was so triggered... because I felt the same thing. Somebody is going to hear that, and bad things will happen."

"Senator Lindsey Graham said at a press conference that money would not be an object in pursuing charges against the "domestic terrorists" who unlawfully entered the Capitol. Other legislators, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, are pushing for the FBI to put rioters on the no-fly list. "We are concerned about these people getting back on airplanes and doing more violence," Schumer said Tuesday. "Ahead of the concern for possible future attacks and with the law on our side, we are to say that these insurrectionists, many of whom are known to be at large, should not be able to hop on a flight.""

"Steven D'Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office, said the bureau has received more than 145,000 photos and videos in the past week. "Every FBI field office in the country is looking for you," D'Antuono said in a message to those involved in the riot. "As a matter of fact, even your friends and family are tipping us off.""

"Twelve Harvard affiliates... had co-signed an open letter Wednesday demanding the immediate removal of Trump from office through the impeachment process or the invocation of the 25th Amendment. Dartmouth professor Brendan Nyhan started the letter and more than 800 fellow political scientists had signed as of 11:30 p.m. “Our profession seeks to understand politics, not engage in it, but we share a commitment to democratic values. The President’s actions threaten American democracy,” the letter reads. “He has rejected the peaceful transfer of power, encouraged state legislators to overturn election results in their states, pressured a state official to change election results, and now incited a violent mob that shut down the counting of electoral votes and stormed the U.S. Capitol.”"

"There’s economic anxiety, there’s racial anxiety. There’s probably gender. Most of these people were men — 30-ish-year old white men who either don’t have a job or are worried about their jobs... It’s possible that that’s what we’re in the middle of here with the Republican Party — today, last Saturday, God only knows what will happen over the next two weeks — will drive the genuinely conservative Republicans away from the increasingly small, but radicalized Trumpist supporters... But I’m not sure that they’ll disappear when Trump disappears — so the Republican Party may be just breaking up."

"In so far as he encouraged people to go to Congress, and in so far as the President has consistently cast doubt on the outcome of a free and fair election, I believe that to be completely wrong. I unreservedly condemn encouraging people to behave in the disgraceful way they did in the Capitol."

"I watched today’s actions on the broken hearted. Horrified. That’s not us. This is an attack on our democracy, our way of life, and not just by the criminals who assaulted our Congress today."

"President @realDonaldTrump supporters pulling Antifa terrorists away from building. There’s plenty of these videos. Why isn’t the #mainstreammedia reporting this?"

"This is what happens when not just Trump, but much of the Republican Party leadership, in a polarized political setting, spends four years lying to its base — working its base into a frenzy telling its base that the other side are traitors, that the other side are trying to destroy the country, that the other side stole the election. If you spend four years mobilizing the base into outrage, you’re very likely to get this sort of violent mobilization."

"I think Trump is at fault here, I watched almost all of his speech. I felt like it was inevitable."

"I … intend to see that those members of Congress who abetted [President Trump], those members of Congress who had groups coming through the Capitol that I saw on Jan. 5 for reconnaissance for the next day, those members of Congress who incited the violent crowd, those members of Congress that attempted to help our president undermine our democracy, I'm going to see that they're held accountable."

"John Earle Sullivan, who was inside the Capitol building during the siege on Wednesday, previously gave a speech in BLM Plaza in DC in August 2020 where he identifies as being part of an insurgency group & calls for a violent left-wing revolution. One of the men who was part of the siege of the Capitol building is John Earle Sullivan, an extreme BLM activist from Utah. He was arrested & charged in July 2020 over a BLM-antifa riot where drivers in Provo were threatened & one was shot."

"Before Donald Trump exhorted the Jan. 6 rally to march on the Capitol, the White House had been warned by the rally sponsor that there was no permit for a march, that the Interior Department’s Park Police were promised there would be no march, and that such an unplanned march was dangerous. As a result, the police were stunned, undermanned and unprepared for Trump’s surprise launch of thousands of his enraged Trump supporters, some armed, on the Capitol. “I mean, it was shocking. It’s something we advocated against doing for exactly the reasons that ended up playing themselves out,” said a high-level source inside Women for America First, the organization that held the Interior Department permit for the rally. They spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity. Even more damning, the march Trump set in motion was led and promoted by ultra-right, violence-threatening extremist Ali Alexander head of Stop the Steal. The Palast Investigative Team filmed Alexander, only weeks before the riot, exhorting a crowd: “Either they take Trump …[or] we’ll light the whole shit on fire!”"

"The first news that there would be, despite warnings, an illegal, uncontrolled march was at 12:15 pm when Trump himself surprised the protest organizers with his announcement. “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” Trump said. The march on the Capitol was set in motion when the President announced he himself would join it. “The announcement that he was going to go was news to us,” the insider said. “But then [Trump] said he’s walking! It caught our team by surprise and unprepared.”... Alex Jones stated on his podcast that he and Alexander were called by the White House just before the president’s speech and were told to prepare to lead the crowd on a march... The White House has not denied the duo’s extraordinary claim, a claim consistent with events."

"I join the Senate Democratic leader in calling on the vice president to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th Amendment. If the vice president and Cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment."

"La protesta pacifica è diritto di ogni americano ma questo attacco al nostro Campidoglio non sarà tollerato e le persone coinvolte saranno perseguite al livello massimo consentito dalla legge."

"(google translate): Peaceful protest is the right of every American but this attack on our Capitol will not be tolerated and the people involved will be prosecuted to the maximum extent permitted by law."

"I want to thank the federal, state, and local law enforcement. The violence was quelled. The Capitol is secured and the people’s work continues. We condemn the violence that took place here in the strongest possible terms. We grieve the loss of life in these hallowed halls, as well as the injuries suffered by those who defended our Capitol today. And we will always be grateful to the men and women who stayed at their posts to defend this historic place. To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win. Violence never wins. Freedom wins, and this is still the people’s house."

"Calling on Vice President Michael R. Pence to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments of the Cabinet to activate section 4 of the 25th Amendment to declare President Donald J. Trump incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as acting President."

"to immediately use his powers under section 4 of the 25th Amendment to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments in the Cabinet to declare what is obvious to a horrified Nation: That the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office."

"A moment of extremely poor judgment...Without qualification and as a peaceful and law-abiding citizen, I condemn the violence and destruction that took place in Washington."

"These reports that Mitch McConnell may be open to the impeachment charges as well is quite a potential earthquake in the Senate."

"They did not just break down the doors of the building that housed American democracy. They trampled the very principles on which our country was founded."

"I have never beheld a spectacle more terrible and at the same time more magnificent."

"The visitors encountered by some of the Members of Congress on this letter appeared to be associated with the rally at the White House the following day. Given the events of January 6, the ties between these groups inside the Capitol Complex and the attacks on the Capitol need to be investigated."

"Come on. Let’s go! We’re all part of this (expletive) history 2021! (expletive) This is insanity. I am shook. What is this? What is this painting, you know? King (expletive) bro (expletive)! Is this not going to be the best film you’ve ever made in your life? This is surreal. This is real life, though. This seems like a movie. This is a revolution. You guys treasure this moment. This is history."

"The carefully orchestrated series of events that unfolded at the Save America rally and the storming of the Capitol was no accident or coincidence. It was the intended and foreseeable culmination of a carefully coordinated campaign to interfere with the legal process required to confirm the tally of votes cast in the Electoral College."

"What we witnessed was an assault on democracy by violent rioters, incited by the current president and other politicians"

"As shocking, deeply disturbing, and frankly saddening as that event remains, we have also seen this week that democracy is resilient in America, our closest ally and neighbour. Violence has no place in our societies, and extremists will not succeed in overruling the will of the people."

"We’re going walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators, and congressmen and women. I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard. we’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, I love Pennsylvania Avenue, and we’re going to the Capitol and we’re going to try and give… our Republicans, the weak ones, because the strong ones don’t need any of our help, we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need So let’s walk down Pennsylvania Avenue."

"I ’d like to begin by addressing the heinous attack on the United States Capitol. Like all Americans I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem. I immediately deployed the National Guard and federal law enforcement to secure the building and expel the intruders. America is and must always be a nation of law and order. To demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol: you have defiled the seat of American democracy. To those who engage in the acts of violence and destruction: you do not represent our country. And to those who broke the law: you will pay. We have just been through an intense election and emotions are high. But now, tempers must be cooled and calm restored. We must get on with the business of America."

"He's got to condemn this sh*t ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough"

"We need an Oval office address. He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand."

"This gathering [at the Ellipse] should send a message to them. This isn't their Republican Party anymore. This is Donald Trump's Republican Party. You can be a hero, or you can be a zero. And the choice is yours. But we are all watching. The whole world is watching, folks. Choose wisely."

"American Patriots, any security breach or disrespect to our law enforcement is unacceptable. The violence must stop immediately. Please be peaceful."

"The man who was seen during the storming of the Capitol building last week wearing fur, horns, and red, white and blue face paint, is seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump for criminal charges related to his role in the events, which led to the deaths of five people. Jacob Anthony Chansley, who also uses the alias of Jake Angeli, faces several criminal charges, including knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without the legal authority to do so, as well as violent entry and disorderly conduct inside the Capitol... Chansley’s attorney, Albert Watkins, believes that Trump should pardon him and others that took part in the breach because it was the president himself that invited them to Washington, D.C., for a protest rally, and encouraged them to go to the Capitol during a speech outside the White House. Indeed, Trump had invited his loyalists to come to Washington, D.C., last month, tweeting on December 20 that the protest on January 6 would be “wild.” Trump incited his supporters to take action against lawmakers as they were certifying the election results, telling his loyalists to head to the Capitol, adding that they would “never take back our country with weakness."

"This is the United States of America. You are innocent until proven guilty... Absent that picture, do I think he would be out? Yes, I do."

"In America, if you lose, you accept the results. You follow the Constitution. You try again. You don’t call facts “fake” and then try to bring down the American experiment just because you’re unhappy. That’s not statesmanship. That's selfishness. That’s not democracy; it’s the denial of the right to vote. It suppresses. It subjugates. The denial of full and free and fair elections is the most un-American thing that any of us can imagine, the most undemocratic, the most unpatriotic, and yet, sadly, not unprecedented. From denying enslaved people full citizenship until the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments after the Civil War; to denying women the right to vote until the 19th Amendment 100 years ago; to poll taxes and literacy tests, and the Ku Klux Klan campaigns of violence and terror that lasted into the ‘50s and ‘60s; to the Supreme Court decision in 2013 and then again just two weeks ago—a decision that weakened the landmark Voting Rights Act; to the willful attacks—election attacks in 2020; and then to a whole other level of threat— the violence and the deadly insurrection on the Capitol on January 6th."

"So hear me clearly: There is an unfolding assault taking place in America today—an attempt to suppress and subvert the right to vote in fair and free elections, an assault on democracy, an assault on liberty, an assault on who we are—who we are as Americans. For, make no mistake, bullies and merchants of fear and peddlers of lies are threatening the very foundation of our country. It gives me no pleasure to say this. I never thought in my entire career I’d ever have to say it. But I swore an oath to you, to God—to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. And that’s an oath that forms a sacred trust to defend America against all threats both foreign and domestic. The assault on free and fair elections is just such a threat, literally. I’ve said it before: We’re are facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War. That’s not hyperbole. Since the Civil War. The Confederates back then never breached the Capitol as insurrectionists did on January 6th. I’m not saying this to alarm you; I’m saying this because you should be alarmed. I’m also saying this: There’s good news. It doesn’t have to be this way. It doesn’t have to be, for real. We have the means. We just need to show the will—the will to save and strengthen our democracy. We did it in 2020. The battle for the soul of America—in that battle, the people voted. Democracy prevailed. Our Constitution held. We have to do it again."

"Like all Americans, I am frustrated that six months after a deadly riot breached the United States Capitol for several hours on live television ... we still don’t know exactly what happened. Why? Because many in my party have treated this as just another partisan fight. It’s toxic, and it’s a disservice to the officers and their families, to the staff and employees on the Capitol Complex, and to the American people who deserve the truth. And it’s why I agreed to serve on this Committee. I want to know what happened that day, but more importantly, I want all Americans to be able to trust the work this Committee does and get the facts out there, free of conspiracy. This CANNOT continue to be a partisan fight. I am a Republican, I am a conservative, but in order to heal from the damage caused that day, we need to call out the facts. It’s time to stop the outrage and conspiracies that fuel violence and division in our country, and most importantly, we need to reject those that promote it. As a country, it’s time to learn from our past mistakes, rebuild stronger so this never happens again, and move onward."

"Here’s what we know: Congress was not prepared on January 6th. We weren’t prepared because we never imagined this could happen: an attack, by our own people, fostered and encouraged by those granted power through the very system they sought to overturn. That is a lesson, not a conspiracy theory or counter-narrative. Some have concocted a counternarrative to discredit this process on the grounds we didn’t launch a similar investigation into the urban riots and looting last summer. Mr. Chairman, I was called on to serve during the summer riots as an Air National Guardsman. I condemned those riots and the destruction of property that resulted. But not once did I ever feel that the future of self-government was threatened like I did on January 6th. There is a difference between breaking the law and rejecting the rule of law, between a crime—even grave crimes—and a coup."

"Americans never bought House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “insurrection” narrative about the January 6 violence at the Capitol, and the majority believe the incident was not as serious as portrayed."

"Presidents are not kings and plaintiff is not president."

"If you follow Jan. 6 at the granular level with the facts that are coming out slowly, they are coming out because the government has been very reluctant to release footage, particularly footage of what happened in the tunnel on Jan. 6, where you now begin to see these cops using massive amounts of force against unarmed Trump supporters, including women. The death of Rosanne Boyland is now being called into question. Was she the second Trump supporter that was killed by the authorities? If you read my quotation, it applies to the violence in the tunnel, and I specifically referenced Rosanne Boyland, who was unarmed."

"For the first time in our history, a President had not just lost an election. He tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob reached the Capitol. But they failed. They failed. And on this day of remembrance, we must make sure that such an attack never, never happens again."

"Now let's step up, write the next chapter in American history, for January 6 marks not the end of democracy, but the beginning of a renaissance of liberty and fair play."

"On January 6th, we all saw what our nation would look like if the forces who seek to dismantle our democracy are successful. The lawlessness, the violence, the chaos. What was at stake then, and now, is the right to have our future decided the way the Constitution prescribes it: by we, the people -- all the people. We cannot let our future be decided by those bent on silencing our voices, over-turning our votes, and peddling lies and misinformation; by some radical faction that may be newly resurgent but whose roots run old and deep. When I meet with young people, they often ask about the state of our democracy, about January 6th. And what I tell them is: January 6th reflects the dual nature of democracy -- its fragility and its strength. You see, the strength of democracy is the rule of law. The strength of democracy is the principle that everyone should be treated equally, that elections should be free and fair, that corruption should be given no quarter. The strength of democracy is that it empowers the people. And the fragility of democracy is this: that if we are not vigilant, if we do not defend it, democracy simply will not stand; it will falter and fail."

"If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January sixth fairly. We will treat them fairly. And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons. Because they are being treated so unfairly."

"I was in the Capitol on January 6 and know it was one of the darkest days in American history. I stand with the police officers who protect our streets, federal courthouses, and the United States Capitol against rioters. They deserve our respect and support and I will not second-guess the decisions they made under dire circumstances."

"All of this would suggest to a normal person that perhaps you should not be entering the area. The defendant is never seen engaging in the kind of property destruction or physical violence seen in the government's montage [of the crowd that entered the Capitol]"

"Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!!...The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History"

"Imagine if your mayor lost a reelection bid, but instead of conceding the race, they picked up the phone, called the district attorney, and said: 'I want you to say this election was stolen."

"But the need for this committee to hear from Donald Trump goes beyond our fact finding. This is a question about accountability to the American people. He must be accountable. He is required to answer for his actions. He's required to answer to those police officers who put their lives and bodies on the line to defend our democracy."

"I call them the J6 hostages, not prisoners. I call them the hostages, what’s happened. And it’s a shame"

"You had hundreds of thousands of people come to Washington. They didn’t come because of me. They came because of the election,"

"Something was in the air in Washington DC in 1985 – a revolution that tried to rid punk of its machismo."

"Ian MacKaye talks about how he watched the Woodstock documentary over and over and over when he was a little kid—actual 1969 Jimi Hendrix Woodstock, not Limp Bizkit–ass, rock-bottom-for-society Woodstock ’99—and Ian carried that original Woodstock ideal with him, the dream that a rock band could foment a revolution or at least inspire a community, millions of people strong, who’d go out and smile on their brothers and everybody get together and try to love one another right now and eventually build a better world. Now, knowing what you know, or think you know, about punk rock as the antithesis of hippie-fueled classic rock, you might be tempted to think that perhaps Ian’s being sarcastic here, with this “inspired by Woodstock” business, but something to know about Ian MacKaye immediately is he’s usually not being sarcastic at all. And when he is being sarcastic, you’ll know that, too."

"There was a situation where the shows were becoming increasingly, moronically violent, and a lot of people were like: 'fuck it, I'll drop out, I don't want to be a part of this any more."