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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and a group of other GOP lawmakers visited the Washington, D.C., jail on Friday, where defendants arrested after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot are being held and awaiting trial, some for close to two years.
The lawmakers referred to the detainees as “political prisoners” and expressed concerns about the poor conditions in which they were being held, according to a report by The New York Times.
“They told us stories of being denied medical treatment,” Greene told reporters following the tour. “They told us stories of assault. They told us stories of being threatened with rape.”
In December 2021, Greene released a report sharing her observations from her visit to the D.C. Jail in November of that year. In it, she noted that an inmate had reported being beaten by fellow detainees and not receiving adequate care.
In part, the report noted:
The November 4 tour was only accomplished after months of persistence. Representative Greene and her congressional colleagues, Reps. Gohmert, Matt Gaetz, and Paul Gosar, were denied entry to the jail on multiple occasions—July 29 and November 3. In July, the Deputy Warden of the facility—Ms. Kathleen Landerkin, charged a congressional delegation led by Rep. Greene with trespassing, avoided and evaded Representatives’ questions, and forcibly locked congressional Members out of the facility.
…[C]ell in the January 6 wing of the CTF were extremely small, composed of a single toilet, sink, and a small bed cot. The walls of the rooms had residue of human feces, bodily fluids, blood, dirt, and mold. The community showers were recently scrubbed of black mold—some of which remained.
Inmates explained that they did not have access to their attorneys, families, or proper nutrition from the jail. …
It is also important to note that the DC jail facility has an area designed for meetings between attorneys and clients with plexiglass and phones as they face each other through the glass. Use of that facility should not result in 14 days of solitary confinement simply for meeting with an attorney.
Following her latest tour on Friday, the Georgia Republican said that some conditions have improved. Her office confirmed the visit and noted that she had spent three hours in the “patriot wing” of the jail.
“Throughout the entire jail, it was cleaner. It had been painted,” Greene noted. “They are allowed out of their cells a lot longer throughout the day.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said Republicans should take credit for the improved conditions since they have repeatedly checked on the defendants, though there were some Democrats in attendance on Friday, the Times said.
“They said in the last month or so, since we took back Congress, that it’s gotten better,” Luna told reporters. “But they said they cleaned it up nicely in the last few days since they knew that we were coming.”
House Republicans launched a promised investigation earlier this month to look into allegations of mistreatment of those charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack at the D.C. jail. The investigation has been spearheaded Greene.
“Civil rights advocates have long been concerned about conditions at the D.C. jail. The facility received increased attention when defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack were housed there, and their lawyers raised concerns about threats from guards, standing sewage, and scant food and water,” the Times reported. “A federal judge in 2021 held top officials of the D.C. jail in contempt of court, ruling they had improperly delayed medical treatment for a Jan. 6 defendant kept in their custody.”
Following the tour, Greene was asked by a reporter if she and other Republicans were attempting to whitewash the events of Jan. 6. She responded by noting that Democrats and media outlets have whitewashed the riots carried out by left-wing groups.
“The Democrats and the media alike are whitewashing all the things that happened with Antifa, BLM protests, and riots across the country in 2020,” she said. “I don’t know why we have to all forget about those, but we have to continue arresting 1,000 more people for Jan. 6.”
