Top Kevin McCarthy aide met with mother of late Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt: report

A senior aide to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) recently met with the mother of the late Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt, whose death at the hands of a Capitol Police officer has made her a martyr among election-denying Trump supporters.

CBS News reports that the staffer this week met with Micki Witthoeft outside of McCarthy's office, which Witthoeft later referenced when she spoke outside of a protest rally outside of a jail where many Capitol riot detainees are being held.

Babbitt's mother also said she met with Reps. James Comey (R-KY) and Clay Higgins (R-LA), whom she said "prayed with us."

As CBS News notes, Witthoeft's meetings with House Republicans "are the latest in a series of inroads with newly empowered House Republican majority made... relatives of Jan. 6 defendants and even one Capitol riot defendant herself."

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Ashli Babbitt was trying to break into House chamber on January 6, 2021 when lawmakers were still being evacuated. As she was crawling through a shattered window adjacent to a door that police had barricaded to prevent rioters from reaching members of Congress, Capitol Police Lieutenant Michael Byrd shot her after warning her and other rioters to get back.

A Capitol Police investigation of the incident cleared Byrd of any wrongdoing.