WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday terminated the employment of one of the top officials responsible for security at the U.S. Capitol Building months after an inspector general’s report found he’d abused his position and misused government property.
Biden’s decision to remove Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton from his position overseeing the Capitol complex followed a week of bipartisan calls for his resignation. Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY), ranking member of the Committee on House Administration, confirmed the president’s decision in a statement Monday afternoon.
“After being given the opportunity to respond to numerous allegations of legal, ethical and administration violations, and failing to directly respond, the President has removed Mr. Brett Blanton from his position – a decision I firmly stand behind,” Morelle wrote.
In November, a report compiled by the Architect of the Capitol’s (AOC) Inspector General’s Office accused Blanton of a pattern of unauthorized use of government vehicles by his wife and adult daughter amounting to “no less than $12,434” in unreported benefits. Investigators also found Blanton may have misrepresented himself as a law enforcement officer on multiple occasions by using his credentials as a member of the Capitol Police Board and the emergency equipment package on his AOC vehicles. On one of those occasions, according to the OIG report, Blanton pursued a vehicle that had struck a car belonging to one of his daughter’s boyfriends and detained the driver until Fairfax County Police arrived.
Although the inspector general’s report accusing Blanton of abusing his position was published in November, it was an appearance before the Committee on House Administration last week that resulted in calls for his resignation from members of Congress, including Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). In particular, Blanton drew fire for testifying that he had avoided coming to Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 because he didn’t think it would be “prudent.” Blanton testified that instead he used his AOC vehicle as a “mobile command center.” Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA), who joined the calls for Blanton’s resignation, told Blanton she thought it was outrageous that he was in a comfortable place “while the rest of us were thinking about dying.”
On Monday, McCarthy tweeted that Blanton should resign or be removed by the president.
“The Architect of the Capitol, Brett Blanton, no longer has my confidence to continue in his job,” McCarthy wrote.
Blanton was appointed as the 12th Architect of the Capitol by former President Donald J. Trump. As AOC, Blanton was one of three official members of the Capitol Police Board on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of the former president’s supporters stormed the building and disrupted the joint session of Congress. In testimony before the House Appropriations Committee in February 2021, Blanton said he was not included in security discussions about a possible request for National Guard support in advance of the breach of the building. Blanton also testified about how AOC staff members raced to the roof of the building on Jan. 6 to reverse air flows inside to help clear the air of chemical irritants being deployed both by police and rioters.
The Architect of the Capitol is the federal agency responsible for the operation and preservation of the Capitol complex, employing about 2,300 people. In March 2021, Blanton asked Congress for a $67 million budget increase to renew aging infrastructure at the Capitol in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack. In July of that year, Congress approved $2.1 billion in funding for Capitol security and overtime and mental health support for the officers who defended the building on Jan. 6.
More than 950 defendants have now been charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol. Of those, approximately 350 defendants have either been convicted or pleaded guilty to crimes ranging from parading in a Capitol building to seditious conspiracy.
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