On Wednesday, Colorado Congressman Ken Buck announced that he wouldn’t be running for re-election because he was disappointed in the direction the Republican Party was heading.
"Too many Republican leaders are lying to America."
Colorado Rep. Ken Buck announced he won't be seeking reelection, citing the election denialism that has been embraced by some of his fellow conservatives in the House. https://t.co/7xF985ok9Z pic.twitter.com/M4yjZJNe9g
— ABC News (@ABC) November 2, 2023
At the time, the news was celebrated by a lot of people, including President Trump.
A day later, Buck was testifying at Trump’s 14th Amendment hearing. Surprisingly, he was testifying on the President’s behalf.
Wow! Ken Buck finally telling the truth under oath and blowing apart the Democrats January 6th narrative.
Trump did nothing wrong!! pic.twitter.com/t1MTj6vilL
— Steve 🇺🇸 (@SteveLovesAmmo) November 2, 2023
A day after announcing his retirement from Congress citing his party’s “lying” about the '20 election, Rep. Ken Buck testified during the Trump trial in Denver and cast doubt on the findings of the Jan. 6 committee.
via @dcwoodruff https://t.co/dlvcRvwvx0— Colorado Newsline (@NewslineCO) November 2, 2023
From The Hill:
The case centers on whether Trump’s actions and speeches during and before the Jan. 6 riots could fall under a clause of the 14th Amendment that bans those who participate or assist in insurrection from federal office.
Buck described a chaotic scene on Jan. 6, as Capitol Police attempted to barricade the House chamber from approaching rioters.
“A police officer came to the microphone and said that tear gas had been dispersed. And we were advised that there were gas masks under our seats, and we should deploy those gas masks,” Buck said. “There was clear indication that there was a danger at that point.”
“I came back to my office rather than the secure committee room, and I saw on TV what was going on and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, there are a lot of people out there,’” he said.
Attorneys for Trump’s campaign also used Buck’s testimony in an attempt to criticize the House Select Committee on Jan. 6, whose report is a key piece of evidence used by plaintiffs in the Colorado case.
Only two Republicans — then-Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) — were seated on the committee after then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) disallowed GOP members amid feuds with Democrats over the committee’s membership.
Trump attorney Scott Gessler described the final committee report as “incomplete” and with “one perspective,” claiming that it didn’t include Republicans’ perspective, at least not ones loyal to Trump, on the Capitol riots and implying that it should not be relied on as evidence.
Buck agreed with Gessler’s general sentiments, saying the report was just an exercise to support Democratic efforts to impeach Trump at the time.
“It’s my view that the people that would have been most challenging to the evidence and testimony were not seated, either by [former] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi or Leader McCarthy, ultimately on the committee,” Buck continued. “I think in order to be able to judge someone’s culpability you’ve got to be able to hear both sides of the story. And in this case, there was not another side.”
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