WATCH: Former Capitol Police Chief Denies Officers Were ‘Complicit’ in Riot

Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund testified Tuesday at a Senate hearing that he did not believe officers were “complicit” in the January 6 riot, as charged by Retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré.

Honoré was chosen by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to lead an investigation into Capitol security in light of the riot. Republicans noted that Honoré has a history of strident partisan comments. In one tweet, now deleted, Honoré called for Hawley, whom he called a “little piece of s— with his @Yale law degree,” to be disbarred.

Honoré also claimed that Capitol Police had been “complicit” in the riot — a complaint that echoed claims by Democrats that the police would have been more harsh with Black Lives Matter demonstrators. (Some on the right have also claimed the Capitol Police let rioters into the building.)

Hawley asked Sund: “The general has said that the leadership of the Capitol Police … he’s criticized you for, and I’m quoting now, the appearance of complicity’ during the attack, and also said that you were potentially, undertook complicit actions’ — those are his words — during the attack. Mr. Sund, were you complicit in this attack on January 6?”

Sund replied: “Absolutely not, sir. I’ve heard those comments as well, and I think it’s disrespectful to myself and to the members of the Capitol Police Department.”

Other witnesses gave similar replies.

Hawley concluded: “To allege that you — any of you — were complicit in this violent mob attack on this building I think is not only extremely disrespectful, it’s really quite shocking. And this person [Honoré] has no business leading any security review relating to the events of January 6th.”

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.