WASHINGTON Aquilino Gonell was a sergeant in the U.S. Capitol Police force and testified Tuesday that he placed his Constitutional duty above the interests of his wife, son, and daughter when he faced rioters at U.S. Capitol on January 6.He thought, as his body was crushed by a violent scrum to "defending this entry,"Gonell and other law enforcers were protecting the symbols of the republic, such as the Capitol, Constitution, and the sanctity and integrity of the ballot. They were also protecting the security of members of Congress and vice president Mike Pence, who were direct participants in republican governance.It was heartbreaking for Gonell, his colleagues at the Capitol and D.C. Metro Police forces to see Republican leaders pretending they weren't under attack."It was demoralizing and devastating for people, regardless of party, to continue to minimize this attack like it never happened." "It was an attempted coup that occurred in the Capitol that morning," Gonell stated in an emotional testimony under questioning from Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who also shed tears."We were fighting for your lives to give you guys the chance to return home to your families, to escape. Now, they are attacking the very people we helped. He continued, "They're attacking our character." It's a shame."Recall that Republican legislators continue to attack police officers who have defended their lives in order to defend a former president who placed them at risk.These Republicans were not present in the room. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. House Minority Leader, and his fellow GOP leaders opted not to appoint any members to the committee that would investigate the riot. They will not defend or condemn the Capitol riot in historical annals of The Congressional Record.Continue the storyThey chose to remain silent, refusing to defend the indefensible and signalling tacit and docile support of former President Donald Trump as well as the rioters who stormed Capitol in Trump's name.David Jolly, a former Republican Representative who left the GOP in 2018, stated that the Republican leadership was trying to divert attention from the hearings.Jolly stated that the committee was set up to uncover the truth about Jan. 6. "Republican opposition is clearly an attempt to block that truth reaching voters," Jolly said.McCarthy threatened to punish fellow Republicans Liz Cheney from Wyoming and Kinzinger. This is to make it clear that McCarthy believes it is better to support a riot rather than to buck Trump.McCarthy chose to not send Republican allies to the committee. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) rejected two of his picks, citing that they had spread lies about the riot. This may have been a political act of cowardice. It is a political miscalculation.The faces of the Republican Party's committee position are Cheney and Kinzinger. Both Cheney and Kinzinger are the Republicans most open to dealing with reality, but they also represent the extreme minority of a party that is still deeply divided by Trump.Kinzinger stated that he accepted Pelosi’s invitation to join the committee "not because of my membership with the Republican Party, but because of it." His intention was clear: He wants to heal his party as well as his country by exposing every detail of the riot.It is possible that fellow Republicans will question their loyalty to Trump and the party. It will be hard to question their loyalty to the country. Cheney, Cheney's daughter, is a former vice-presidential candidate. She has also served in Congress and the State Department. It is difficult to find a more solid line when it comes to national defense matters than hers. Kinzinger is a lieutenant Colonel in the Air National Guard.Both men used a portion of Tuesday's hearing to point out that Democrats still oppose them on most issues, but they also stressed the importance of learning more about the execution and planning of the riot.Kinzinger stated that there may be deep differences in our views on policy issues. "But, we are all Americans today.Notably, this group included Cheney as the only Republican House member.A number of House Republicans, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla), who is currently under FBI investigation, spent Tuesday outside the Justice Department protesting Jan. 6 rioters' treatment in jail.After a visit at the White House this week, McCarthy called Cheney and Kinzinger "Pelosi Republican" because they are so tightly woven around a political agenda. This phrase has been used for years to praise those who are independent from partisanship.McCarthy's actions and words are creating more political space to support Pelosi Republicans, or at the very least Biden Republicans. Former Republicans who put the sanctity and integrity of the republic before Trump or promised power in the next election.It's difficult to imagine how Republicans can stand up for anyone or anything if they don't defend the Capitol or the Constitution. This is what Tuesday's hearing was all about, for both the Democrats and for the officers who testified as well as for the Republicans who stated that serving the country and their party are not mutually exclusive.McCarthy faced with a similar decision and decided to follow Trump instead of the truth
