House Republicans have launched an investigation into the jailhouse treatment of people arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot — while former President Donald Trump has lent his voice to a charity song meant to raise money for the defendants.
Members of the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to DC Mayor Muriel Bowser on Thursday demanding a catalogue of complaints made by Jan. 6 detainees held at the D.C. Central Detention Facility, as well as an explanation of why their trials haven’t started yet.
The letter — signed by Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and members Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Clay Higgins (R-La.) — also asked for a tour of the facility and access to the Jan. 6 defendants by March 23.
The GOP lawmakers said they were investigating reports that Trump supporters had been subjected to “inhumane treatment” during their incarceration and flagged concerns that the district was “violating detainees’ constitutional and human rights.”
“Eyewitness accounts of conditions at the DC Jail Facilities — particularly regarding the treatment of January 6 detainees — paint a picture of despair, hopelessness, and a severe abuse of justice,” the letter reads.
“No prisoner in the United States should be treated in this fashion.”
According to the letter, the Republicans want to know about complaints tied to cell and sanitary conditions for Jan. 6 detainees, as well as their access to food, legal counsel and religious materials or rites.
They also plan to investigate whether Jan. 6 defendants have been subjected to worse treatment than other detainees, the letter says.
Greene, who visited DC’s main jail in December 2021 and decried the treatment of people held there as “outrageous”, said in the letter that one Jan. 6 detainee had reported being beaten by other inmates, while another showed evidence of having a fractured bone that was left untreated.
Others claimed they had been made to wear the same contact lenses for six months and were forced to negotiate clogged toilets, according to the letter.
Greene added that inmates told her during the visit that they had been denied access to a Bible and Communion because they hadn’t been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Approximately two dozen defendants charged over their alleged involvement in the Capitol riot are currently being held at the jail pretrial, the US Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia — which is overseeing the cases — told The Post on Friday.
“Almost all of these defendants are charged with assaultive conduct and none are charged only with misdemeanor offenses,” a spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, a group of alleged Capitol rioters — who call themselves the “J6 Prison Choir” — released a song this week that features Trump’s vocals.
The track, titled “Justice for All,” is available on music streaming platforms and lists Trump as the composer.
It features Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance as the Jan. 6 detainees sing the “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
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