Former Members of Congress Demand Ethics Investigation of Lawmakers Who Sought to Prevent Transfer of Presidential Power

Dear Members of the House of Representatives:

We are former members of the House of Representatives, Republicans and Democrats, who watched in distress on January 6th, 2021 as supporters of the former president assaulted the U.S. Capitol. We feared for each of you, including many of you who fled for your lives.

As is now clear, January 6th was only one event among many that together constituted an extraordinary campaign to overturn an election. The scale and audacity of the campaign is profoundly troubling. Among the most alarming findings is that various members of Congress participated in it.

We now know, for example, that sitting lawmakers corresponded and met with White House officials and allies to plot various prongs of the campaign, including to advocate that the president declare martial law; that states submit false certificates of electoral votes to Congress; that the vice president, in contravention of his constitutional duties, interfere with the counting of electoral votes; and that federal law enforcement authorities be enlisted to interfere with the election; among other startling facts. We also now know that various sitting lawmakers sought presidential pardons.

These lawmakers stopped short of storming the Capitol themselves. But they shared a common goal with those who did: to prevent the lawful transfer of power for the first time in the Republic’s history. As with those who stormed the Capitol, they must be held accountable.

As former lawmakers, we are well accustomed to disagreeing with our colleagues. The undersigned disagree on any number of policy issues. Among elected representatives, this is expected — and in a healthy democracy, normal. What is not normal is subverting an election when the results do not suit us. We expect that Congress will and should be home to intense and passionate disagreement. But we did not expect that lawmakers who found their party on the losing side of a presidential election would take matters into their own hands.

Our ability to ensure that such efforts are not repeated rests upon accountability for unlawful and unethical behavior. No one — including members of Congress — is above the law.

Our Congress enjoys unique protections in our constitutional order. Generally, the Constitution insulates lawmakers from liability arising out of the performance of their legislative duties in order to permit open deliberation by our representatives. But these protections are not absolute. The Constitution permits exceptions, including for actions that constitute “Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace.” Members whose misconduct falls outside of their constitutionally protected legislative duties are no more immune to legal accountability than their fellow citizens.

Our Congress is responsible for also setting its own standards of acceptable behavior and disciplining members when ethical lines are crossed. In exchange for broad protections, the Constitution grants each house of Congress the authority to “punish its Members for disorderly Behavior.” The exercise of Congress’s authority to discipline itself dates back to the earliest years of the Republic. Members have been expelled, censured, fined, and stripped of various privileges for all manner of misconduct, from bribery and physical altercations to support for the Confederacy. Surely, taking part in an effort to overturn an election warrants an institutional response; previous colleagues have been investigated and disciplined for far less.

Based on the facts and findings to date, we urge you to demand that the Office of Congressional Ethics thoroughly investigate those members who played a role in the events leading up to and on January 6th, and if appropriate, that the House exercise its disciplinary functions. At stake is not only the institutional integrity of the legislative branch — to draw and enforce bright lines of ethical conduct — but the principle of accountability upon which our democracy rests.

All of us have won elections; and many of us have lost them, too. The world’s greatest and oldest democratic experiment persists because we, like most of you, have accepted defeat at the ballot box — and then worked even harder to earn our constituents’ support the next time around. If those who have eschewed that basic republican tenet evade accountability, we fear lessons will go unlearned, and that history will repeat itself.

(If you are a former member of the House of Representatives and would like to add your name to this statement, please complete this form. New signatories will be accepted until December 31st.)

Sincerely,

John Barrow
U.S. Representative (D-Georgia), 2005–2015

Steve Bartlett
U.S. Representative (R-Texas), 1983–1991

Robert E. Bauman
U.S. Representative (R-Maryland), 1973–1981

Bruce Braley
U.S. Representative (D-Iowa), 2007–2015

Lois Capps
U.S. Representative (D-California), 1998–2017

Russ Carnahan
U.S. Representative (D-Missouri), 2005–2013

​​M. Robert Carr
U.S. Representative (D-Michigan), 1975–1981, 1983–1995

Rod Chandler
U.S. Representative (R-Washington), 1983–1993

Tom Coleman
U.S. Representative (R-Missouri), 1976–1993

Mickey Edwards
U.S. Representative (R-Oklahoma), 1977–1993

David F. Emery
U.S. Representative (R-Maine), 1975–1983

Wayne Gilchrest
U.S. Representative (R-Maryland), 1991–2009

Dan Hamburg
U.S. Representative (D-California), 1993–1995

Paul Hodes
U.S. Representative (D-New Hampshire), 2007–2011

Elizabeth Holtzman
U.S. Representative (D-New York), 1973–1981

Bob Inglis
U.S. Representative (R-South Carolina), 1993–1999, 2005–2011

Steve Israel
U.S. Representative (D-New York), 2001–2017

Mary Jo Kilroy
U.S. Representative (D-Ohio), 2009–2011

Mike Kopetski
U.S. Representative (D-Oregon), 1991–1995

Larry LaRocco
U.S. Representative (D-Idaho), 1991–1995

John LeBoutillier
U.S. Representative (R-New York), 1981–1983

Mel Levine
U.S. Representative (D-California), 1983–1993

Dave Loebsack
U.S. Representative (D-Iowa), 2007–2021

Jim McDermott
U.S. Representative (D-Washington), 1989–2017

Matthew F. McHugh
U.S. Representative (D-New York), 1975–1993

Glenn Nye
U.S. Representative (D-Virginia), 2009–2011

Thomas Perriello
U.S. Representative (D-Virginia), 2009–2011

Reid Ribble
U.S. Representative (R-Wisconsin), 2011–2017

Scott Rigell
U.S. Representative (R-Virginia), 2011–2017

Ciro Rodriguez
U.S. Representative (D-Texas), 1997–2005, 2007–2011

Claudine Schneider
U.S. Representative (R-Rhode Island), 1981–1991

Philip Sharp
U.S. Representative (D-Indiana), 1975–1995

Peter Smith
U.S. Representative (R-Vermont), 1989–1991

Alan Steelman
U.S. Representative (R-Texas), 1973–1977

Bart Stupak
U.S. Representative, (D-Michigan) 1993–2011

Peter G. Torkildsen
U.S. Representative (R-Massachusetts), 1993–1997

David Trott
U.S. Representative (R-Michigan), 2015–2019

James T. Walsh
U.S. Representative (R-New York), 1989–2009

Joe Walsh
U.S. Representative (R-Illinois), 2011–2013

Mike Ward
U.S. Representative (D-Kentucky), 1995–1997

Henry A. Waxman
U.S. Representative (D-California), 1974–2014

Timothy E. Wirth
U.S. Representative (D-Colorado), 1975–1987