Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) testified in the Colorado case against former President Donald Trump on Thursday, which is seeking to disqualify Trump from the 2024 ballot under the 14th Amendment.
Buck appeared remotely as a witness on behalf of Trump's campaign attorneys who are looking to discredit the House select committee on Jan. 6, 2021, that investigated the riots at the Capitol following Trump's loss in 2020. The Colorado congressman described a scene during the riot when U.S. Capitol Police tried to barricade the House chamber from rioters.
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“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 told the court, according to the Hill. “There was clear indication that there was a danger at that point.”
Buck said he did not have phone reception and was unaware of the riots, so he prepared to assist police to fend off what he thought would be a small group of protesters.
“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,’” the congressman said.
Buck's testimony is part of a weeklong hearing that began on Monday for a lawsuit that cites the Civil War-era provision of the 14th Amendment that blocks those who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and later "engaged in insurrection" from holding higher office. The lawsuit was filed in early September with the backing of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which is representing six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters.
The former president's attorneys have argued that Trump's speech on Jan. 6 was protected under the First Amendment and he did not violate the 14th Amendment because he did not participate in the riots. However, the lawsuit alleges he instigated it and thereby represents his alleged violation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Attorneys for Trump’s campaign 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 the plaintiffs. Only two Republicans, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, were on the select committee after then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) disallowed GOP members to serve.
Buck said in court on Thursday that he wanted to be on the Jan. 6 committee but McCarthy declined his offer.
“I asked Kevin if I could get his permission to seek to serve on that committee because I thought it was important that witnesses were cross-examined and documents were challenged,” Buck said. “And Kevin told me that he did not want me serving on that committee, and he didn’t want any other Republicans serving on that committee.”
The Colorado congressman agreed with Trump attorney Scott Gessler's sentiments that the report was "incomplete" with "one perspective," saying that it was just an excuse to bolster Democratic efforts to impeach the former president.
“There was a political purpose to that report, as there is with almost everything in Congress, and the political purpose was ultimately to win elections and to paint the one side in as bad a light as possible,” Buck said. “And that’s why typically there is a minority report in an investigation like this.”
"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 added. “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.”
Buck is the second lawmaker to provide testimony in the case. He announced on Wednesday that he would not seek reelection in 2024 due to House Republicans' "Jan. 6 narrative" and insistence that the 2020 election was stolen. Trump took the announcement to deride Buck as an "ineffective super RINO."
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Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) testified remotely on Monday about his "haunting" experience during the riots. He said he was one of the last to exit the House floor during the riot.
"The chambers are mostly windowless," Swalwell told the court. "So having just learned a bit on our phones about bombs around the building, knowing [the] mob had breached multiple perimeters ... the uncertainty of what they wanted and what they would do."