Constituents slam pol for actions after Capitol riot
BY BEN BRACHFELD
A year after the deadly attack
at the United States Capitol
on Jan. 6, 2021, southern Brooklyn
and Staten Island Representative
Nicole Malliotakis is still
defi ned in the eyes of some constituents
for her actions before
and after the attempted insurrection,
which they say helped
enable the attack and undermined
American democracy.
Malliotakis, New York City’s
lone congressional Republican,
was one of 147 Republicans in
the House of Representatives
to vote against certifying the
results of the 2020 presidential
election in Arizona and Pennsylvania,
citing baseless claims
of widespread voter fraud. That
vote came in the hours after
a mob of some 2,000 Donald
Trump supporters, egged on
by the then-president, stormed
the Capitol building, ransacked
the place, assaulted cops, and
threatened representatives and
staffers in an attempt to stop the
certifi cation of Joe Biden’s victory
in the presidential race.
The vote came just three
days into her term as a member
of Congress, after defeating
one-term Democrat Max Rose
in the November 2020 general
election, but it’s cast a shadow
on her entire tenure as many
constituents, particularly in
the more Democratic pockets
of the 11th district, liken her actions
to treason.
“Republicans are not speaking
out about what happened a
year ago today,” said Denise Reiser,
a Bay Ridge resident who
attended the rally outside Malliotakis’
COURIER L 14 IFE, JANUARY 14-20, 2022
Third Avenue offi ce. “It
was sedition, treason. They’re
not honest, and she was one of
them.”
Malliotakis also voted
against forming a commission
to investigate the attack, and
after the commission proposal
died in the Senate, voted against
forming the Jan. 6 Select Committee,
along with most other
Republicans. Trump and most
of the GOP nationwide have
spent the year following Jan.
6 not only casting doubt on
Biden’s victory, but also pushing
bills through state legislatures
aimed at restricting the
right to vote, restructuring
state election systems to allow
for greater partisan control,
and purging any election offi
cials insuffi ciently loyal to
Trump.
It’s also a key sticking point
for Malliotakis as she runs for
reelection this year. Rose has
already announced that he will
contest the race again, though
he will fi rst face democratic socialist
Brittany Ramos DeBarros
in the Democratic primary
— both have been highly critical
of Malliotakis.
Asked for comment, a rep
for Malliotakis sent a statement
from the Congressmember
calling Jan. 6 “wrong, unacceptable,”
and something that
“should never happen again”
and arguing that the Capitol
Police are not adequately
staffed and that Capitol is “not
yet secure enough to withstand
future attacks.”
“Instead of playing partisan,
political games, Speaker
Nancy Pelosi should be implementing
the 104 safety recommendations
made by the
Inspector General and let the
law enforcement agencies investigating
and prosecuting offenders
continue to do their job
without political interference,”
Malliotakis said.
The pol, however, did not respond
to questions regarding
whether she still believes the
election was fraudulent or if she
stands by her vote not to certify
the results. Her spokesperson
referred Brooklyn Paper to an
op-ed she wrote for the Staten
Island Advance a week after
the riot, where she said her “objective
was not to overturn the
election” while continuing to
make unsupported claims of
voter fraud.
Malliotakis represents the
only congressional swing district
in the city. 11th Districters
preferred Donald Trump
in the 2016 and 2020 elections,
but voted for Barack Obama
in 2012. It’s had fi ve congressional
representatives since
2009: three Republicans and
two Democrats. The Staten Island
and Brooklyn sections are
also split on political loyalty: in
2020, Rose beat Malliotakis in
the Brooklyn section 52.3 percent
to 47.5 percent, but Malliotakis
made up for it on Staten
Island, where she beat Rose
55.1 to 44.7.
Protesters at Nicole Malliotakis’ Bay Ridge offi ce on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot. Photo by Ben Brachfeld
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