8. Confrontation over access to January 6 Detainees (8:39 p.m. – 8:50 p.m.)
As the group waited to fully assemble, Representative Greene initiated a conversation with the D.C. Mayor’s representative, Eugene Kinlow, and Wanda Patten, Deputy Director of Operations, about when the delegation could see the January 6 defendants.
As the conversation progressed, Mr. Kinlow repeatedly stepped away from the delegation to call the “Director,”—presumably the Director of the D.C. Department of Corrections, Mr. Quincy Booth—though this was never confirmed. At one point, the steel prison bar door closed between the delegation and Mr. Kinlow.
Only after Representative Greene threatened to go to the media about the lack of access to the January 6 detainees did DOC staff allow the delegation to proceed to where the detainees were being held in the CTF.
The following conversation took place in a hallway between the CTF and CDF:
~
8:40 PM:
Rep. Greene: And we’re seeing the January 6 defendants? That’s part of our tour. That’s in this building [CTF], isn’t it?
Kinlow: I think we are giving you the same tour that the first group did.
Patten: [They] didn’t go [there].
Kinlow: I don’t think we can go there either.
Rep. Greene: That’s part of the tour. That’s part of what we’re doing tonight.
Kinlow: I get that, but I think it’s clear from the Director that we must match the tours.
Rep. Greene Staff: We didn’t see what the other tour did.
Patten: Yea…
DC DOC Officer: What it is: we went to…and then YME and then we flipped them [the delegation tours].
Rep. Greene: Well, we’re here to see the whole facility—and also see where the January 6 defendants are.
Kinlow: Again, I think the goal was to conform to the first group, and I think that…
Rep. Greene: That’s not what we’re here for. We’re here to see where they are and the rest of the facility.
Kinlow: I don’t think we have the authority…
Rep. Gohmert: What is there to hide? The complaint has been that they’ve been treated differently than the other detainees. I thought tonight we were going to find out. Rep. Greene to Rep. Gohmert: I can’t imagine the difference. What’s the difference? All
pretrial.
Kinlow: Give me one minute. The Director is offsite.
8:43 PM
pause to wait on Mr. Kinlow to talk on the phone with the Director
8:46 PM
Landerkin: Director says the tour is over.
Rep. Greene: No, the tour’s not over. The whole point of it was to see the entire place, and to see the January 6 defendants.
Landerkin: That’s not my call. That’s the Director’s [decision].
Rep. Greene: Why though? What is the reason?
Patten: Let me say this, there is nothing to hide.
Rep. Greene: If there’s nothing to hide, we should be seeing it. It’s not about the first group [D.C. City Council delegation].
Kinlow: Everything that the first group [D.C. City Council delegation] has seen, you have seen.
Rep. Greene: We don’t care about the first group.
Kinlow: We are not able to accommodate your request at this time.
Rep. Greene: We went in an area where there were people banging on walls and screaming because they have been held in those cells 24 hours a day, and you’re telling us we can’t see where the January 6 defendants, pretrial are? These people are presumed innocent.
Kinlow: You can’t see where they are today. (Emphasis original)
Rep. Greene: Why? To hose them down and clean [them] up? And the facility? What is the problem?
Kinlow: This tour is being concluded.
Rep. Greene: No, this tour should not be concluded. If you don’t have anything to hide, then show us.
Kinlow: I have nothing to hide.
Rep. Greene: You know what’s going to happen when we walk out of here. We’re going to say, “they showed us, gave us this great tour, we got to talk to inmates…”
Kinlow: The D.C. Councilmembers and legislators didn’t get to see this.
Rep. Greene: I don’t care. They didn’t request this.
Rep. Gohmert: That’s their concern, our concern….
Kinlow: I’ve got the Director on the line, and under advice from the Director this [tour is over].
Rep. Greene: WHY?!
Rep. Gohmert: Oh, well, if it’s advice, then we can still go. That’s just advice, that’s not a directive.
pause to wait on Mr. Kinlow to talk on the phone with the Director a second time
Rep. Greene: The well-being of everyone is important and I don’t know why we can’t see one area.
At this point, the steel bar door begins to close, separating Kinlow from the remainder of the group. Kinlow continued to speak with the Director as the doors separated him from the group. The timing of the doors closing created suspicion that someone activated it on purpose. While DOC staff later claimed the doors automatically close on a timer, the Congressional delegation never received a plausible explanation for why the door closed precisely during the confrontation between the Representatives and the Mayor’s staff.
Rep. Greene: Oh, my goodness gracious.
Rep. Greene Staff: Ok, so we just got shut off from the facility. They just locked the door.
Rep Greene: Why though?
Rep. Gohmert—to Rep. Greene: Like when the Marshals had the surprise inspection it was so they could clean it [the area] up better. But there’s no reason, since it got cleaned up, for us not to be able to go back there.
Rep. Gohmert—to Deputy Warden Landerkin: You understand, we can also make an appearance before the U.S. judge, and I intend to take action.
After Kinlow finished the call around the corner, away from the group, he returned to make an announcement.
Kinlow: Warden [Landerkin], can you open up?
Landerkin: I’ll get the door open.
The steel bar door begins to slowly re-open, Kinlow rejoined the group.
Kinlow: Alright. It’s ok, we’re [going] to go to that section. I don’t know where it is. I’ve never been there.
DOC Staff: (anxiously) We’ll take them.
Kinlow: Well, let’s go ahead and do it.
Rep. Greene: I just think it’s better for everyone because, listen, I don’t think misinformation is a good thing, and this is the best way to dispel of it.
~
After two hours since the beginning of the tour and after demanding to see the January 6 detainees, the Representatives were finally taken to the area. The conversation in the hallway ended and the group proceeded down another series of hallways and elevators within the CTF until reaching a new, lower level.
9. January 6 Detainee Wing (8:55 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.)
After exiting the elevator and turning right, the delegation of approximately 15 people filed into a narrow hallway which led to a secluded area in the back of the CTF. This area was noticeably different: the January 6 detainee wing was a much older part of the jail that had not been updated in many years. One inmate claimed that this section of the jail had once been used as a psychiatric ward that had been decommissioned before the January 6 inmates were assigned there.
DC DOC staff opened a door and allowed Reps. Greene and Gohmert to enter a large, white, artificially lit room with approximately 40 inmates in orange scrubs scattered throughout the room. Inmates began to pour out of the rooms and approach the delegation of Representatives and staff. The wing had two floors, with cells along the walls of both floors. The center of the room contained a few scattered chairs and tables, but largely open space. The remainder of the room had an aged electronic panel controlling the cell doors, and a common shower area with 3 individual showers with curtains.
Moments after Reps. Greene and Gohmert entered the room, the inmates broke into excited yelling and triumphant shouting, astounded by a visit from two sitting Members of Congress. The inmates were overwhelmed with emotions: some crying, almost all emotionally shaken. One inmate asked to hug Congresswoman Greene. Except for the January 6 detainees, no other inmates in any part of the jail cried during the visit. Many January 6 inmates had not seen their families in some time and expressed a sense of hope after such a long period of isolation from the outside world.
As inmates gathered around the representatives, chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” rang out. Inmates began to form a line to shake hands with Reps. Greene and Gohmert and their staff. Congresswoman Greene began by asking questions of the inmates:
Rep. Greene: Are you able to see and speak with your attorneys?
Inmates: No!
Rep. Greene: Are you able to talk to and see your family members?
Inmate: No! I haven’t seen my family since April.
Inmate: I haven’t seen my family’s faces since all year!
Rep. Greene: If you have long hair, is that by choice?
Inmate: Unless you’re vaccinated you have to use Nair.
Rep. Greene: Do you feel like you’re being treated fairly?
Inmate: No! Absolutely not. We only get five hours a day out of our cells. Which is better than one hour. We were held for 23 hours a day when we got here.
Rep. Greene: Do you go outside?
Inmate: Twice a week.
Rep. Greene: How many times a day do you get meals?
Inmate: Three. Define meal.
Rep. Greene: How often do you get mail?
Inmate: Whenever they [jail guards] feel like it.
Rep. Greene: Do you get to be included in any kind of educational classes or training?
Inmates: immense sarcastic laughter
Rep. Greene: Tell me about religious services. Are you allowed to have religious services?
Inmate: No. We do our own.
Rep. Greene: Do you have a Bible?
Inmate: Yes ma’am.
Inmate: They said the only way to get Communion is to get vaccinated.
Inmate: They sprayed all the cells with bleach before the Marshals came.
Read the rest here.