DOJ Inspector General Nominee Berthiaume Declines To Call January 6 Capitol Violence An Attack

Don Berthiaume, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s internal watchdog office, faced probing Senate questions on Wednesday about his independence and his reluctance to characterize the January 6 Capitol violence as an attack.

“President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s internal watchdog office repeatedly refused in his confirmation hearing to use the word “attack” to describe the violence on January 6, 2021, that disrupted Congress’ election certification vote”

CNN

During his confirmation hearing, Berthiaume repeatedly declined to use the word “attack,” telling senators, “I don’t know if I would use the term ‘attack,’” while describing instead “activity outside the Capitol—protests and such—and there was violence on the Capitol grounds.”

CNN

When pressed by Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, Berthiaume acknowledged the “physical violence” that day but maintained that the term attack “seems to imply that there was a coordinated effort to attack specific things.”

The hearing came as Trump and the inspector general system faced escalating tension, including a January 2025 move in which Trump fired at least 17 inspectors general across federal agencies without providing Congress required advance notice.

Blumenthal said he posed questions about the 2020 election results and January 6 specifically to test the nominee’s independence from the White House.

Earlier in the hearing, Blumenthal asked Berthiaume who won the 2020 election, and Berthiaume said President Joe Biden had been “certified” by the Senate as the winner while denying discussing his answer in advance with the White House.

eciks.org

CNN reported that Berthiaume told senators, “There was protest activity, people went to the Capitol grounds. People entered the Capitol building, which is contrary – as far as I know – to law,” while stressing he didn’t “agree” with the term attack even as he acknowledged the “physical violence” outside the Capitol.

The confirmation hearing also unfolded against the backdrop of a federal court finding that the mass inspector general removals were likely unlawful, and Berthiaume said Wednesday that he agreed with that court’s conclusion that the terminations broke the law.

The inspector general position was created by Congress in the 1970s as a post-Watergate reform to investigate waste, fraud, and abuse within executive branch agencies, and the office is intended to operate independently.

“Don Berthiaume, the Trump nominee for inspector general at the Department of Justice, refused to outright say that the January 6 insurrection was an 'attack'”

The Guardian

Federal law requires that the president provide Congress with advance notice before removing an inspector general, and the January 2025 firings of at least 17 inspectors general were carried out without that required advance notice.

During the hearing, Berthiaume agreed with the federal court’s conclusion that the terminations broke the law, as the nominee sought to fill the DOJ watchdog role permanently after relying on acting inspectors general since early 2026.

The nomination also signaled Trump’s intent to fill the DOJ watchdog role permanently, with Berthiaume serving as a senior advisor in the DOJ when Trump nominated him for the permanent position in April 2026.