Former Republican congressman downplays his Jan. 6 revelations in new book after committee members get mad
The Washington Post reported over the weekend that staff and officials on the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Congress were not happy with former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA), who was working on the committee as a staffer until April 2022.
While officials like Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren have indicated that they followed up on everything Riggleman said and that there was not a lot of news in his book, behind the scenes it was another matter. According to former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), members are "furious" with Riggleman.
Appearing on MSNBC Monday evening, Riggleman appeared to downplay the revelations that he included in the book, which will be released publicly on Tuesday. Sunday evening, his interview with "60 Minutes" showed him giving details about the link between phone calls of insurrectionists and militias directly to the White House and officials.
"I did not betray their trust. I was gonna write a book beforehand, back in 2021, I said that," Riggleman said. "The thing is, I don't make this about, you know, some kind of beef about the committee, because obviously, they did not read the book yet. It's a really — what it comes down to. It's a little surprising that things some individuals say, that don't think I've done a fantastic job, and it was a little interesting to see them say some of those things."
While Riggleman said that there is information about the committee's revelations in the book, it's all things that have been public. He said that he simply tries to digest the findings in a way for everyday people.
The main portion of the book is about his experience being a pariah of the GOP after performing a gay wedding for two staffers. He explained that not only did he become a target, but "people [were] messing with my vehicle when my daughter [was] driving it, which was actually a threat of my life."
"And I have someone come to my place, after marrying my two staffers, and scream, you are the general of the sodomite. I was called the antichrist. My wife was called this spawn of satan."
That is the main point of the book outside of the Jan. 6 piece.
See a clip of the interview below or at the link here:
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