Blaze News investigative journalist Steve Baker is alleging he’s uncovered major irregularities involving U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, the Capitol Police, the press, and a Democrat congressman.
What are the details?
First off, Baker alleges that Dunn — hailed as a “hero” after Jan. 6 — is the author of a headline-grabbing, anonymous 2021 letter penned on Capitol Police letterhead, which took issue with minority members of Congress who contended there was no need to form a Jan. 6 commission.
The existence of the letter came to light on May 19, 2021, in numerous mainstream media accounts — but not who wrote it.
In addition, Baker alleges that U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) encouraged Dunn to write the letter. Baker told Blaze News that Raskin should have been “fully aware that it’s a violation of Capitol Police regulations for Dunn to take political stances in representation of the department.”
Baker also alleges that:
- Dunn violated many departmental directives against using USCP’s time and resources for political purposes.
- The Capitol Police have known Dunn wrote the letter, initiated an investigation on and disciplinary action against Dunn, and kept Dunn’s connection to the letter from public knowledge.
- Dunn worked with members of the Capitol press pool in crafting the language of the letter.
- Dunn’s actions likely disqualified him from testifying before the Jan. 6 commission and in the Oath Keepers trial, and his actions were kept from attorneys for the Oath Keepers.
Bradford L. Geyer — an attorney who represented now-imprisoned Oath Keeper Kenneth Harrelson — issued a pointed statement to Blaze News about these allegations.
“Similar to Steve Baker’s exposure of the fabricated testimony by David Lazarus, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn also provided inaccurate testimony that led to the wrongful convictions of innocent Americans, including Sergeant Kenneth Harrelson (retired). The impact of this false testimony on the trial cannot be overstated, and regrettably, neither individual has faced any repercussions for corrupting the justice process. It’s almost a stroke of luck that Dunn was allowed to testify. As I had anticipated, the line prosecutors handling the case were likely unaware that Dunn had received support from the D.C. press corps in crafting and spreading the letter, which was designed to appear as an official communication. This alone should have been a firing offense,” Geyer told Blaze News, adding that “despite their serial lies, both Harry Dunn and Agent Lazarus were commended, while wrongly convicted Americans languish in prison.”
The U.S. Capitol Police, Dunn, and Raskin’s office on Monday did not immediately reply to Blaze News’ request for comment regarding Baker’s allegations.
Baker outlined in a pair of X threads (here and here) last week what he noted his investigation uncovered.
What else?
CNN published a story about the anonymous letter on May 19, 2021, noting significantly that the letter was not an official statement from the Capitol Police — and that a USCP spokesman said the department does not know where the letter came from.
“The U.S. Capitol Police does NOT take positions on legislation,” the department said in a statement, CNN added.
CNN also said it spoke to the officer who wrote the letter and claimed it represented the view of 40 to 50 officers. While CNN didn’t reveal the identity of the officer, the cable news network quoted the officer as saying, “It needed to be out there. It needed to be done.” CNN added that it could not independently verify that other officers supported the letter.
What’s more, CNN noted in its May 19, 2021, story that Rep. Raskin’s chief of staff circulated the anonymous letter to other chiefs of staff with a note saying, “Mr. Raskin has been in discussions with several rank-and-file Capitol Police officers who are his constituents. He has listened to them describe their physical and emotional traumas, which, for some, have led to months of mental anguish.”
CNN also reported that the note said, “Attached is a letter from unnamed officers (who remain anonymous because they are afraid of retribution for speaking out) about their profound disappointment in the current politics surrounding the vote on the January 6th commission. Mr. Raskin is hoping your bosses will read this letter, and consider the sentiments behind it, before the vote.”
Anything else?
Baker’s first Jan. 6 analysis came in October, following countless hours in a House subcommittee office looking at frame after frame of Jan. 6 closed-circuit video — and it had him wondering: Did the security chief for then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi perjure himself in the Oath Keepers trial?
Soon after, the slow pace of getting an unrestricted look at everything recorded on video prompted Blaze Media editor-in-chief Matthew Peterson’s appeal to House Speaker Mike Johnson to release all the videos. On Nov. 17, Johnson did just that.
Baker’s investigative efforts also resulted in two additional analyses, both focusing on Dunn: “January 6 and the N-word that wasn’t” and “Harry Dunn’s account of January 6 does not add up. At all.”
