Greene, GOP colleagues call for firing of DC Corrections official who ‘despises’ Trump and supporters

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and 13 other Republicans are calling for the immediate termination of the deputy warden in charge of inmates connected to the Jan. 6 riot, who are being held inside a Washington, D.C. jail.

In a letter to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser shared on Twitter, Greene accused D.C. Central Detention Facility (CDF) Deputy Warden Kathleen Landerkin of “displaying animus toward anyone who supports Donald J. Trump” and of a perceived bias against Trump supporters.

“While most of these inmates have no prior criminal history and have yet to be convicted of any crime, Landerkin is allowing them to be treated as subhuman,” Greene wrote in the letter Thursday signed by fellow Republican Reps. Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Andy Harris (Md.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.).

Deputy Warden Kathleen Landerkin, the person in charge of J6 pre-trial detainees is an unhinged left-wing ideologue who despises President Trump, his supporters, and Republicans.

Today, 13 of my colleagues and I sent a letter to @MayorBowser demanding her immediate termination. pic.twitter.com/XdE4IhZCbf

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) December 16, 2021

To date, 762 people have been charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6 riot, when pro-Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification of the 2020 election. 

Less than 40 of those individuals are being held in the DC jails, according to Department of Correction officials, who spoke to WUSA9. But reports of those inmates being mistreated have spurred protests and outcries among conservative circles.

In October, a judge ruled the D.C. Department of Corrections had violated the rights of one defendant jailed for the Jan. 6 riot by impeding his access to medical care.

Following the news, Greene toured the D.C. jail on Nov. 4 with Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas).

In a document about the visit, Greene said inmates connected to the Jan. 6 riot were housed in a separate wing and under deplorable conditions, including unsanitary cells with mold growing on the walls. She also said they were force feeding the inmates reading material, such as Nation of Islam texts and Critical Race Theory.

Greene’s report also alleges inmates had numerous health conditions that were not being properly treated. Lonnie Coffman, who faces a 17-count indictment for allegedly bringing 11 molotov cocktails and other firearms to the riot, was “in such poor condition that his lower forearm had turned purple and his thumb, black.”

Last month, the U.S. Marshals Service inspected the jail complex where the rioters are being held and found it to be sufficient. About 400 other inmates held in a separate building are being transferred to Pennsylvania because conditions were insufficient there.

But in Thursday’s letter, lawmakers said Landerkin showed a clear bias and should be removed.

The letter criticized Landerkin for tweets it said she had sent calling Trump a “pig,” and “equating Christians to the Ku Klux Klan,” as well as saying Ashli Babbit, a rioter who was killed on Jan. 6, “was responsible for being shot.”

“These examples are a mere drop in the ocean of statements which Landerkin has publicly supported over the last seven years,” the letter reads.

The Hill has reached out to Landerkin for comment. 

This story was updated 8:11 p.m.

CORRECTION: Rep. Gohmert visited the D.C. jail on Nov. 4 with Greene. An earlier version of this story included incorrect information.