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BumRushDaShow

(169,950 posts)
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 03:52 PM Feb 2023

Biden fires Architect of the Capitol after calls for his resignation

Last edited Mon Feb 13, 2023, 06:40 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: CNN Politics

CNN — President Joe Biden fired the Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton’s on Monday following allegations that he misused government resources and was not physically present on the Capitol grounds during the January 6, 2021, insurrection, a White House official said.

Biden “terminated” Blanton amid bipartisan calls for his firing or resignation, including from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier on Monday, the official said. “After doing our due diligence, the Architect of Capitol was terminated at the President’s direction,” the White House official said.

In the fall, an inspector general report accused Blanton of abuse of government property and wasting taxpayer dollars by allowing his family to drive a government-owned vehicle and taking the vehicle on out-of-town trips to South Carolina and Florida, according to the report. The federal watchdog also accused Blanton, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, of ethics violations over an offer to provide tours to “patriots” weeks before the November 2020 election.

Blanton, was grilled last week by members of the House Committee on Administration during a hearing to review a federal watchdog report. The report accused Blanton of ethics violations, abuse of government funds and wasting taxpayer money. In Thursday’s hearing, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle jumped on learning that Blanton was not physically present on Capitol grounds on the day of the insurrection, January 6, 2021. CNN has reached out to the office of the Architect of the Capitol for response to McCarthy’s call for Blanton’s resignation.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/13/politics/architect-of-the-capitol-resignation-calls



I remember when the previous Architect had retired and this one was appointed by... surprise surprise.

ETA - the below (that I have posted before) was done back in 2016 when Stephen T. Ayers, the predecessor of the guy who just go fired, was the Architect. He had been in the job between 2007 - 2018. Ayers appears in a number of spots in the video as part of the interview/narration.

37 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Biden fires Architect of the Capitol after calls for his resignation (Original Post) BumRushDaShow Feb 2023 OP
Is McCarthy upset he wasn't there to aid the insurrection? SouthernDem4ever Feb 2023 #1
Don't let him leave town - he's complicit in the coup FakeNoose Feb 2023 #2
Absolutely! SheltieLover Feb 2023 #4
Now he needs to Dejoy and Wray. Grimelle Feb 2023 #29
Maybe uh...maybe Pres Biden should clean house of all Trump appointees he can? NullTuples Feb 2023 #3
There are upwards of 4000 positions that are done by Presidential appointment BumRushDaShow Feb 2023 #5
That would explain why the GOP spent 2017 erasing Obama's presidency NullTuples Feb 2023 #23
And Turtle did a damn good job packing the courts. BumRushDaShow Feb 2023 #24
REALLY THIS 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻 LenaBaby61 Feb 2023 #31
Why is an absence on 6 January evidence of wrongdoing? jsabrown Feb 2023 #6
Maybe they know more than has been reported. It did mention about his offer of patriot tours. nt woodsprite Feb 2023 #8
January 6 was a day that featured a huge, Constitutionally-mandated event BumRushDaShow Feb 2023 #11
I would bet he doesn't have a good excuse LymphocyteLover Feb 2023 #14
his "good" excuse? i was exhausted from giving all those patriots tours for the past 2 months orleans Feb 2023 #18
Or....he was scared $&#&less because he knew Hope22 Feb 2023 #34
Welcome to DU, jsabrown! calimary Feb 2023 #22
He's part of security there too. Captain Zero Feb 2023 #32
"The hearing was horrible. Find it and listen." - Here it is below BumRushDaShow Feb 2023 #35
Thanks for posting. He managed to unite everyone against him. Quite a feat. Raven123 Feb 2023 #36
That WAS quite a feat BumRushDaShow Feb 2023 #37
Ah ha.. PJB & Kev both Agree that Cha Feb 2023 #7
a scapegoat for the right LymphocyteLover Feb 2023 #12
Yeah who earned it, and can't imagine dt Cha Feb 2023 #16
Good! LymphocyteLover Feb 2023 #17
This won't end well for Blanton, either. Ford_Prefect Feb 2023 #9
I sure hope not LymphocyteLover Feb 2023 #13
Wow DownriverDem Feb 2023 #10
A trump crony.... of course! LymphocyteLover Feb 2023 #15
Capitol building's top manager prompts fury with admission he avoided Hill on Jan. 6 LetMyPeopleVote Feb 2023 #19
Republicans always complain about "wasting taxpayer money" IronLionZion Feb 2023 #20
Republicans always accuse others of their own misdeeds. SunSeeker Feb 2023 #21
There's more here. TickTock. Joinfortmill Feb 2023 #25
Jack Smith should be talking to him soon Captain Zero Feb 2023 #33
How crazy is this? MyOwnPeace Feb 2023 #26
658 windows on the US Capitol and the rioters hit all 12 that were not reinforced and the 2 doors .. Botany Feb 2023 #27
good republianmushroom Feb 2023 #28
. dalton99a Feb 2023 #30

SouthernDem4ever

(6,619 posts)
1. Is McCarthy upset he wasn't there to aid the insurrection?
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 03:58 PM
Feb 2023

I thought all the trumpies were supposed to be ok with him.

NullTuples

(6,017 posts)
3. Maybe uh...maybe Pres Biden should clean house of all Trump appointees he can?
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 03:59 PM
Feb 2023

Just a thought. Seems like a lot of them serve at the pleasure of the President and should've been cleared out in 2021.

BumRushDaShow

(169,950 posts)
5. There are upwards of 4000 positions that are done by Presidential appointment
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 04:14 PM
Feb 2023

and they ALL need confirmation by the Senate.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/ppo/

Biden has been prioritizing judicial appointees and so far, upwards of 600 positions of a variety of positions requiring confirmation, have completed that process.

There are still U.S. Attorney vacancies that are slowly being filled too, so Architect is probably down on the list for priority (usually they are geeks but it sounds like this guy was right up 45's ally ).

NullTuples

(6,017 posts)
23. That would explain why the GOP spent 2017 erasing Obama's presidency
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 06:01 PM
Feb 2023

I mean on top of negating or undoing everything from major laws to post office renamings. Their MO seems to be to throw so much at the wall to see what sticks, their BS becomes the wall itself.

BumRushDaShow

(169,950 posts)
24. And Turtle did a damn good job packing the courts.
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 06:11 PM
Feb 2023

Literally shoveling judges into the courts. So far, Biden has managed to get almost 100 federal judges confirmed out of 154 announced (some of which are still awaiting confirmation).

jsabrown

(22 posts)
6. Why is an absence on 6 January evidence of wrongdoing?
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 04:20 PM
Feb 2023

Maybe he was WFH because the Capitol was busy. Maybe he had a flat tire. Maybe he was sick.

Don't get me wrong; I'm sure dude is a gaping a$$hole, but I don't get why his absence on 6 January is worthy of inclusion in his list of offenses.

woodsprite

(12,582 posts)
8. Maybe they know more than has been reported. It did mention about his offer of patriot tours. nt
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 04:30 PM
Feb 2023

BumRushDaShow

(169,950 posts)
11. January 6 was a day that featured a huge, Constitutionally-mandated event
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 04:50 PM
Feb 2023

that took place in the U.S. Capitol - the final presentation, review, and certification of the Presidential Electors as part of the Electoral College process.

It wasn't some random "busy" day but ended up featuring a disruption in the transfer of power.

orleans

(36,959 posts)
18. his "good" excuse? i was exhausted from giving all those patriots tours for the past 2 months
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 05:20 PM
Feb 2023


or however long he was touring those "patriots"

Hope22

(4,767 posts)
34. Or....he was scared $&#&less because he knew
Tue Feb 14, 2023, 09:04 AM
Feb 2023

Just what was going down! He fed the beast and fled!

calimary

(90,100 posts)
22. Welcome to DU, jsabrown!
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 05:54 PM
Feb 2023

Seems to me it's worth finding out what he was doing that day, and where.

Should he have been there? Do some folks in that arena think there's a fishy smell starting to be detectable around him? I'm not familiar with the details or demands of his job, so I'm asking.

Captain Zero

(8,909 posts)
32. He's part of security there too.
Tue Feb 14, 2023, 04:03 AM
Feb 2023

Something like 3 people oversee security. He's one of the three. The hearing is on YouTube. What infuriated me was on J6 HIS WIFE, Michelle, was on Twitter urging people to go to the Capitol!

The hearing was horrible.
Find it and listen.
He's definitely a 45 fuckhead.

Raven123

(7,825 posts)
36. Thanks for posting. He managed to unite everyone against him. Quite a feat.
Tue Feb 14, 2023, 12:19 PM
Feb 2023

I think the GOP mostly was upset that he wasn’t a covid denier, but no one believed his explanations for his wife’s behavior and his own inability (unwillingness) to go on record about his family driving the government vehicle. No wonder everyone wanted him fired.

BumRushDaShow

(169,950 posts)
37. That WAS quite a feat
Tue Feb 14, 2023, 12:32 PM
Feb 2023

considering he didn't do anything that Ben Carson and Tom Price hadn't done themselves.

(of course the former drifted back into his "pyramids are for grain storage" stupor and the latter had to resign)

Cha

(319,178 posts)
16. Yeah who earned it, and can't imagine dt
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 05:10 PM
Feb 2023

is happy about it. More like Hissing and Fuming.

LetMyPeopleVote

(180,003 posts)
19. Capitol building's top manager prompts fury with admission he avoided Hill on Jan. 6
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 05:22 PM
Feb 2023

This asshole knew that there was going to be an attack and did not take steps to stop this attack



https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/09/lawmakers-capitol-hill-architect-misconduct-00081934

Architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton already faced serious allegations of misusing official resources. At his first appearance under oath since a searing report detailed those accusations, lawmakers only discovered more reasons for concern.

Amid blanket denials and evasive answers as Blanton appeared before the House Administration Committee for 90 minutes Thursday, the man in charge of effectively running the Capitol complex said he avoided coming to the Hill on Jan. 6, 2021. He explained that he thought it wouldn’t be “prudent” to drive to work that day, a revelation that infuriated lawmakers on the panel.....

Blanton has a vote on the three-member Capitol Police Board, which is in charge of making decisions about increasing security around the complex and oversees the Hill’s police force. House Administration Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) promised that the committee would soon be looking at possible reorganization of the USCP board.

“I’m outraged that you would be in a comfortable place, sir, while the rest of us were thinking about dying that day and how we were going to come out alive that day,” Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) told Blanton. “Outrageous that you were not here.”

“I find it mind-blowing that the head of the AOC, the leader, knowing what you knew — probably a lot more than we did that day — would not have been in this building ensuring the safety and security not only of the building but of the employees that you lead,” echoed Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.).

An inspector general report found Blanton had misused multiple office resources, including improperly using official vehicles to drive all around the Washington region, as well as to South Carolina and Florida, and had impersonated a law enforcement officer after a family relation experienced a hit-and-run. In his first public address of those accusations, Blanton said he drove his official department vehicle on personal trips in case he had to rush back to the Capitol in a crisis.

IronLionZion

(51,305 posts)
20. Republicans always complain about "wasting taxpayer money"
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 05:35 PM
Feb 2023

because they're the ones wasting it on themselves while Democrats "waste" it on healthcare and education for the American people.

MyOwnPeace

(17,568 posts)
26. How crazy is this?
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 06:25 PM
Feb 2023

The RepubliQans are upset with some government official who wasn't there when they were being attacked, and yet they vote AGAINST impeaching the son-of-a-bitch that incited the whole damned thing!

TWO-FACED CHICKEN SHITS!!!!!

Botany

(77,373 posts)
27. 658 windows on the US Capitol and the rioters hit all 12 that were not reinforced and the 2 doors ..
Mon Feb 13, 2023, 06:39 PM
Feb 2023

.... that were not reinforced (bomb proof) too. Now who would have had that knowledge or how
to disconnect the panic button the desks on certain democratic Congressperson's desks?

Talk about "the deep state" and Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton is right there. I hope
Mr. Smith gets "to chat" w/him.

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