Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s pick to lead a Capitol security investigation in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot hurled multiple partisan insults at congressional Republicans, even calling for some of them to lose their jobs.
In a now-deleted tweet, posted just one week after the Capitol incident, revived by Fox News’s Tucker Carlson, Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré publicly insulted Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, calling him a “little peace of sh-t” and calling for him to “be run out of DC and Disbarred ASAP.” He also said Hawley and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas are “aaa hats” and “high order white privilege.”
Shortly after Honoré tweeted the colorful and opinionated post, Pelosi tapped the “respected leader with experience dealing with crises” to oversee the “immediate review of [Capitol] security infrastructure, interagency processes, and command and control.”
“We must subject this whole complex to scrutiny,” Pelosi said in January.
“We must subject this whole complex to scrutiny.”
Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi announces that retired lieutenant general Russel Honoré is leading a review of ‘security infrastructure’ ahead of the inauguration.https://t.co/ADSPXeowuf pic.twitter.com/NvRabDXMLN
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 15, 2021
“It didn’t work that day, and everybody who knows about this … they all know the tools are there. The tools didn’t work. We’ve got to get the tools to work, get all of government to work together,” Honoré said of the Capitol security shortly after he was picked for the job.
Pelosi also announced her intentions to create a 9/11-style commission to investigate the failures that allowed a mob to breach the historic building on Jan. 6. In addition to establishing the commission and receiving multiple briefings from Honoré, House Democrats also requested an expansion of an investigation into “domestic terrorism and violent extremism” they believe may have driven the riot.
“We will have an after-action review,” Pelosi said. “There will be a commission.”
.@SpeakerPelosi: "I have asked retired Lieutenant General Russell Honoré to lead an immediate review of security infrastructure, interagency processes and command and control."
Full video: https://t.co/qN5p8wlbBY pic.twitter.com/vRmgmZ2b0o
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 15, 2021
Honoré has a history of criticizing Republicans including former President Donald Trump. He was also a somewhat regular guest on multiple corporate broadcasts such as CNN and MSNBC to give his takes on Trump’s response to the 2017 Puerto Rico hurricanes, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and more.
“The President doesn’t understand the Constitution, or he don’t give a d-mn,” Honoré said in 2020.
Lt. Gen. Honore on Gen. Mattis’ blistering critique of Trump:
“The President doesn’t understand the Constitution, or he don’t give a damn. And I think General Mattis very eloquently stated that.” #inners pic.twitter.com/DObmggwpeH
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) June 4, 2020
Lt. General Russel Honore says Trump is hurting the troops and veterans by slowing down the mail. Honore also called for a march on Washington to stop Trump's sabotage. pic.twitter.com/sKBkt6QuE7
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) August 13, 2020
Ret. Lt. Gen. Honoré on Trump tweets: “The mayor’s living on a cot and I hope the President has a good day at golf.” https://t.co/iVhtWZQbyw pic.twitter.com/isb3ozOuCJ
— CNN (@CNN) September 30, 2017
“It’s hard to get the speed you need to save lives if you’re slow at making decisions and you’re not decisive.”
— Russel Honore, who led military relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, on how the Trump admin. has responded to COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/SMrJC2Xe3O
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 17, 2020
“Focus on the future damn storm! Stop looking in the rear view mirror!”
–Russel Honoré, retired lt. general who oversaw Hurricane Katrina Joint Task Force, on his advice to President Trump about the president’s tweeting today about hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico in 2017. pic.twitter.com/04Hihz6Wwu
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 13, 2018
Lt. Gen. Russel Honore says gov't's first mistake with Puerto Rico relief was not giving the mission to the military https://t.co/IlzCC5VJ9p pic.twitter.com/Iq3GOwu7dG
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 30, 2017
