The women who saved the boxes of electoral college votes during a riot in the Capitol
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Chabeli Carrazana
Economy Reporter
Published
January 8, 2021
With insurrection at the door, one woman's thoughts turned to the mahogany and leather boxes in the Senate chamber. The three boxes contained the votes — the very documents that had drawn a mob into the nation's Capitol during a violent assault on democracy Wednesday afternoon.
The woman, a Senate aide who The 19th is not naming for safety reasons, was the one who directed staffers to gather the 18-inch by 10-inch boxes and transport the votes to a secure location while President Donald Trump supporters incited a riot within the building, sending senators, representatives, aides, interns and reporters to seek shelter while offices were ransacked.
Earlier in the day, the president had encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol in protest of the certification of the election taking place.
The certified electoral college votes symbolized an election many of them felt they were robbed of. That's why the aide's quick thinking has been hailed as heroic by many — though few knew who was the person behind the move to protect the certified electoral college votes.
"One of the staff members was very quick thinking and was able to grab and secure the electoral college ballots and take them with her to this location, so we have them with us and we will be able to proceed as long as Mitch McConnell calls us back into session," Sen. Tammy Duckworth told CBS Evening News Wednesday afternoon.
In the aftermath of the riot, images of staffers carrying the boxes to the joint session of Congress went viral on social media, with many praising the women. But the photos did not depict the moment the boxes were saved — they were from earlier in the day.
Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley's office confirmed that the person who coordinated the safe removal of the votes was a different aide.
Merkley, who rejoined his colleagues to finalize the certification of the election once the rioters left the building Wednesday evening, gave a speech on the Senate floor praising her efforts.
"Their cargo is precious," Merkley said Wednesday night. "These boxes contain the voice of the American people weighing in, as they have election after election."
The boxes don't hold the only certified electoral votes — other copies are held by state governors, the National Archives and the Federal Registrar, which has digital copies — but they are the physical copies of the certificates that could allow for the process to continue on time and as planned.
Merkley said the aide organized a team to rescue the boxes and keep them safe when an announcement was issued to move staff from the Senate chamber and into a safe room.
"Thank you to her and the entire team that rescued the voice of the American people," Merkley said. "Had they not done so, then the hooligans outside, disrespecting the Constitution, would have come in here and opened these boxes and burned the ballots, destroying the voice of the people symbolically."
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Kudos to these quick thinking and brave women.
Sadly their names can't be released because of the frickin' crazy Trump followers.
This country is indebted to the women who did this. Unfortunately, I'm certain that their names will be discovered, and they will receive the same treatment others have had to endure.
I sure as hell hope not, but you're probably right.
The likes of Graham, McConnel, and some others are now being bitten by the Tiger they have been riding. They asked for it and now they are feeling what many innocent people have felt.
Can anything worse be said of the Trumpist crazies?
Consider this: I'm not a fan of Lindsey Graham, but how did those who attacked him at the airport know his flight schedule? They were waiting for him. When one is that high up the food chain, via popularity or other means, precise travel schedules are supposed to be confidential.
Here is another tidbit (although a bit off topic)...
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina on Friday said he believed that "something else was going on here" after learning that Trump supporters passed up his highly visible office door to go inside a different room that is not easy to find and more private.
"My office, if you don't know where it is, you ain't going to find it by accident," Clyburn told The Joe Madison Show on Friday morning. "And the one place where my name is on the door, that office is right on Statuary Hall. They didn't touch that door, but they went into that other place where I do most of my work. They showed up there harassing my staff."
"How did they know to go there? How come they didn't go where my name was? They went where you won't find my name, but they found where I was supposed to be," said Clyburn. "Something else was going on untoward here.” Source
These people had help, and lots of it.
I'm not a conspiracy nut but a lot of things are just not adding up. The Capital Police Chief lied to two congresspeople and told them on witnessed phone conversations that the NG was on standby before the riots. That was a lie, also black capital cops said that the supervisors and Chief were no where to be found during the riots.
JR posted an article on this.
Attorney General Merrick Garland must get to the bottom.
He has to turn over every rock and I think that he'll find a lot of things that could be stunning.
the american public is only aware of a fraction of this DC debacle. the FBI and DHS are all over it now after being held back previously. the truth will come out eventually. strap a cushion to the bottom of your jaw for what we are all about to soon learn.
Didn't the chief of the capitol police resign? I thought that was a weird move.
Traditors
Perhaps even worse, as they were responsible for the failure of the primary reason Trump planned the treasonist invasion of the Capitol bldg...to destroy the votes of the EC so that he can claim he won the election. The destruction of the Capitol bldg was merely a prize Trump delighted in as well.
Yes he did along with the Sargent at Arms of the Senate and the Congress.
The capitol police captain in charge of Senate security committed suicide today.
I think "delusional" covers it.
and both Sgt's of Arms quit ......... yeah, that's probably nothin'...
Thank you, ladies, for your bravery and quick thinking.
They found the balls that Cruz, Hawley et al lost.
... those 2 teabag terrorist senators never had any balls.
LOL, true
Lost? They never had any to start with.
Trump ate them 5 years ago....
Most likely. Trump does not have any himself, so he can't stand anyone else having any.
I heard that a few people told Trump that their nads were actually dangling hemorrhoids in order to keep them. Seems Trump bought it.
he thought they were chicken nuggets ...
I hope they eventually are awarded the highest civilian medal for their actions.
Exactly
that won't happen soon. none of them gave trump money, are complicit in hiding his crimes in office, sucked his dick in the media, or is somebody he's played golf with or wants to play golf with.
The day after the riots Trump awarded two golfers with the Medal of Freedom. What a couple of dumb shits. Player and Sorenstrom should go the hell back to South Africa and Sweden.
Huh?
Hopefully Biden will award it to them. They literally saved the country
Kudos to these ladies. They are true Patriots.
Yes, they are, they are also ogichidaa the common translation is, warrior. But the total meaning is ''those who stand between evil and the people, the protectors.
And they were exactly that! Without their quick thinking and highly Patriotic actions there would have been a much worse result from the insurrection.
Having this plan fail due to their actions, Trump will now resort to a much more deadly actions and will not accept failure in any way.
I have a feeling that he will have help from his Master Putin, who is hoping Trump will be able to gain full Dictator control of the country so that Russia can take advantage of all the resources they lack that are abundant here in America.
Some may think my thoughts are fanatical, or fantasy, but, who thought we would ever see what happened on Wednesday ever happen here in America.
I hate to sound conspiratorial yet it is almost like they were looking for something. They were going through certain offices.
I read a laptop was stolen that could contain sensitive information.
I heard the same and it's kind of suspicious.