Details about the shooting death of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt at the Capitol on Jan. 6 are being withheld to keep her killing from distracting from the Democrats' political agenda to use the events of that day to "attack their political opposition," according to Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, which has filed a lawsuit seeking information on her death.
"There's no law enforcement reason for the delay," Fitton told Newsmax's "Wake Up America" Thursday, later adding that "we know what the delay was. We know what happened to him (in) that period of time, which was the crazed impeachment of President (Donald) Trump."
Fitton's comments came after he revealed to Newsmax Wednesday night news about getting a trove of emails showing new details about Abbott's death, including that the medical examiner in the case requested that her body be cremated just two days after it was received and that records concerning her fingerprints were emailed out only to be returned as undeliverable, with the return document containing Chinese characters.
Fitton said Thursday that both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Capitol Police Department must be asked questions and "no one seems to be willing to do that. We're just having to do the basic work that the Congress, the government" isn't doing.
He also asked if the investigation into Ashli Babbitt's death will be added to the ongoing probe being done by the Jan. 6 select committee, whose members, including just two Republicans, were appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"People worry about (Mayor) Lori Lightfoot in Chicago or (Mayor Bill) de Blasio in New York, about the management of the police up there," said Fitton. "What about the management of the Capitol Hill police that resulted in the death of Ashli Babbitt, that we don't have basic information ... when will we get the information and will Congress turn it over separately?"
According to a video obtained by The Washington Post and released on Jan. 8, just two days after the Capitol incidents, Babbitt was shot by an officer who was behind a door leading into the Speaker's Lobby, a hallway leading to the House of Representatives chamber.
The video shows Babbitt and others outside the door, where they were blocked by three Capitol Police officers. The officers moved away from the door when other officers arrived behind the group, according to the clip and other video posted online, and after they moved, the officer on the other side of the then-unguarded door opened fire, shooting Babbitt.
The Justice Department closed its investigation into the shooting in April and said the officer, who has yet to be named, would not be charged in connection with Babbitt's death.
"There are many questions about who killed her," Fitton said. "What were the circumstances of her death? Was the shooting death of Ashli Babbitt appropriate under the law?"
As Congress wasn't releasing the information, Judicial Watch went to the District of Columbia's police department.
"The documents show they knew how she died, and that it was a homicide as soon as January 12 or 13," but official details didn't come out about how Babbitt, the only person killed at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and others who died for various reasons after that, until April, said Fitton.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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