Mother of deceased Capitol Police officer presses GOP senators to back Jan. 6 commission

The mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick is requesting meetings with GOP senators to push them to support a proposed bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, which Republicans are poised to block as soon as Thursday.

Gladys Sicknick is seeking sit-downs with every single Senate GOP office on Thursday to emphasize “the importance” of establishing an independent body to investigate the deadly insurrection, according to a copy of one of the scheduling request emails obtained by POLITICO. Brian Sicknick died a day following his response to the Jan. 6 attack after suffering from a stroke.

“Not having a January 6 Commission to look into exactly what occurred is a slap in the faces of all the officers who did their jobs that day,” Gladys Sicknick said in a statement provided to POLITICO. “I suggest that all Congressmen and Senators who are against this Bill visit my son’s grave in Arlington National Cemetery and, while there, think about what their hurtful decisions will do to those officers who will be there for them going forward.”

“Putting politics aside, wouldn’t they want to know the truth of what happened on January 6? If not, they do not deserve to have the jobs they were elected to do,” she added.

A measure to set up the commission passed the House last week with the support of every single Democrat and 35 Republicans. But that legislation is on shaky ground in the Senate, where 10 Republicans would need to get on board in order to circumvent a filibuster. So far, only a few GOP lawmakers — including Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — have signaled support for the proposal. Even then, they want to see changes made.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has warned his members behind closed doors that the release of the commission’s findings could drag into the height of the 2022 election cycle, when both the Senate and House majorities are up for grabs. Former President Donald Trump has also come out swinging against the commission and slammed the House Republicans who voted for it.

But Republicans are facing mounting political pressure, including from some in the law enforcement community, to get behind the proposed commission. D.C. Police officer Michael Fanone, who was severely injured on the job while responding to the Jan. 6 attack, has been seeking a meeting with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Last week, an anonymous and unsigned statement was released on Capitol Police letterhead and said to be authored by multiple officers on the force, delivering a rare and scathing public rebuke of top Republicans for opposing the commission bill.

“On Jan 6th, where some officers served their last day in US Capitol Police uniform, and not by choice, we would hope that Members whom we took an oath to protect, would at the very minimum support an investigation to get to the bottom of EVERYONE responsible and hold them 100 percent accountable no matter the title of position they hold or held,” reads the letter, which was not written or issued formally by the department.

Burgess Everett, Marianne LeVine and Olivia Beavers contributed.