Rep. Chris Smith Condemns 'The Assault' On Capitol Hill

NEW JERSEY, NJ — Congressman Chris Smith is one of only two Republican Congress representatives remaining in New Jersey; he represents New Jersey's Fourth Congressional District, which is most of Monmouth, part of Ocean County and a small sliver of Mercer.

Speaking directly to Patch Wednesday night, here are his thoughts on what happened in Washington today:

"I unequivocally condemn the assault on Capitol Hill, and those who committed the vandalism and crimes should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Smith. "Special thanks to the Capitol Police for their brave and decisive actions to mitigate and then end today’s crisis. There needs to be good enforcement of those who did this so it has a chilling effect on future acts like this."

"Despite its many flaws, the U.S. Congress continues to be a marketplace of ideas and differing opinions. (It) requires robust debate and genuine respect for one another even — and especially — when there is fundamental disagreement."

Smith was preparing to go to the House floor when the break-ins happened shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday. Like all U.S. representatives, including Vice President Pence, Smith and his staff spent most of Wednesday afternoon under guarded lockdown, only emerging Wednesday night to certify the Electoral College vote.

Smith said he agreed with Pence and House Majority leader Mitch McConnell — in contrast to President Trump — that Congress has no authority to overturn the Electoral College votes, even for those disputed states. Smith said he will not oppose the counting of certified electoral votes from any state.

"I do believe Mike Pence did the right thing. I think legally he had only that option," he said. "But he was very noble. And I think McConnell's speech was very eloquent and was one for the record books."

As of 8 p.m. Wednesday, Smith was preparing to return to Capitol Hill to certify the Electoral College vote, something he said would take place within the next hour or so.

Smith represents the Fourth Congressional District, which covers nearly all of Monmouth County, including towns such as Holmdel, part of Middletown, Colts Neck, Rumson, Manalapan, Freehold, Red Bank and Wall Township. The Fourth District also reaches into Jackson and Lakewood in Ocean County and Hamilton and Robbinsville in Mercer County.

"Some of the cops have been hurt, some of the so-called protesters have been hurt. One woman died. It's tragic. But when people are coming in through the windows and bringing down doors to get in ..." he trailed off. "Police did move very quickly."

So-called protesters? Does Rep. Smith give credence to the idea that some of those people today were merely posing as Trump supporters?

"I don't know that yet," said the Congressman. "And I'll leave that to law enforcement to decipher their identities. I saw very strange things, some strange designs on tattoos, for example a hammer and sickle. Some very strange things. It may have been Antifa. We just don't know. I'll leave that to the police to ascertain."

"We have seen that in other protests," he continued. "We've seen that in Black Lives Matter and some other protests and others."

"This is pure speculation," he added.

Is President Trump solely responsible for what happened today? For weeks he called on his supporters to come to Washington on Jan. 6 and encouraged them to "never give up" and "never concede."

"It's not unreasonable to suggest that," said Smith. "They came to his rally. But again we don't know who they were yet. That remains to be seen and those who did it: Go to jail. You can't trespass, break windows and fight cops, and some of the police officers today did get hurt. I am passionately in favor of law and order and Capitol Police did a great job today."

What about Trump continuing to allege voter fraud took place, and that the 2020 election was stolen from him?

"He's fully entitled to make his case," said Smith. "But you can't cross lines; you have to be accurate. You need hard evidence, hard proof that the election in the six to eight states has been falsified and that the electors are here under false pretenses. And while some of that has been adjudicated by the courts, there are still some questions. But we've got to act on what we know and what we know now is there seems not to be the proof."

"I can understand any candidates' frustration if they think there was voter fraud," he continued. "Any issues of dead people voting cannot be trivialized. Vigilance is required in any election to mitigate voter fraud ... But to rise to the level of overturning an election? Our, well then-Attorney General Barr said he didn't think so."

On that note, Smith said he thinks the U.S. should require voter ID. And he said he hopes the U.S. does not return to mass mail-in voting as many states did in 2020.

"I hope we don't have to do the vote by mail. I heard, anecdotally, of many people who got multiple ballots in the mail. They said they just threw the other ones away," he said.

"I think we should have voter ID. You and I can't go to the bank and cash a check without showing ID. You can't even put money into a bank account without an ID. So it doesn't seem to be an unusual requirement," Smith said. "We should have that same respect for the sanctity of the vote. Some people are very against it. We just want to prove you are who you say you are."

Here were Rep. Smith's prepared remarks on the House floor Wednesday:

Madame Speaker, after rigorous analysis and much reflection, I will not oppose the counting of certified electoral votes from any state.

I share some of the concerns about election irregularities. Today’s proceedings give Congress the opportunity to raise concerns about alleged election wrongdoing in several states which I hope will ultimately lead to bipartisan state investigations and reform to ensure fair and free elections.

Today, however, Congress is tasked with counting the electoral votes sent by each state. Nullifying the electors of any state requires proof that electors were not “lawfully certified” according to state laws.

In early December, Attorney General William Barr told the Associated Press that “U.S. attorneys and FBI agents have been working to follow up specific complaints and information they’ve received, but “to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.”

All elections in the United States must be free and fair — any action to subvert, cheat, suppress or steal any election should be investigated and prosecuted.

Even if the nefarious activity was minor—and not likely to alter the outcome of an election — individuals who engage in such acts should be held accountable in a court of law.

No one has a license to cheat.

Sixteen years ago, some Democratic members of the Senate and House tried to overturn the results of the Bush-Kerry presidential election. They failed. When counting the electoral votes on January 6, 2005, I voted “no” on the objection to accepting Ohio’s electors — enough to reverse the outcome of the election — sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Oh) because the allegations lacked both merit and proof. Only 31 members of the House voted in favor of the election changing objection.

Congress, states and local governments need to undertake a top-to-bottom review of election law and administrative polices to ensure that elections are free and fair.

The future of our nation depends on it.