Lawmakers in Norfolk, Virginia, voted Tuesday to accept funding from the U.S. Capitol Police in order to provide extra security for Elaine Luria, a Democratic congresswoman who lives in the city.
The Norfolk City Council gave the go-ahead to accept $68,000.
The money is meant to pay for deputies from the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office to operate “as independent contractors for providing security support,” according to council documents.
“She and her family have been subjected to threats of violence,” said Luria spokesman Jayce Genco.
According to Genco, the threats have come as a result of Luria sitting on the House Jan. 6 committee, which is working on a final report laying out its findings about the U.S. Capitol riot.
“Threats of violence against anyone (are) reprehensible, and it’s unfortunate that standing up for the truth in America today means risking the health and safety of you and your family,” Genco said.
Genco added that Luria “appreciates the close coordination between local law enforcement and Capitol Police.”
Luria is in a tough reelection fight in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District in the Virginia Beach area, facing Republican Jen Kiggans in November.
According to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, Luria’s election is a “toss-up,” making her one of the most vulnerable members of Congress in the country.
The Jan. 6 committee has already revealed much of its work at eight hearings over the summer, showing in detail how former President Donald Trump ignored many of his closest advisers and amplified his false claims of election fraud after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
Witnesses interviewed by the panel — some of them Trump’s closest allies — recounted in videotaped testimony how the former president declined to act when hundreds of his supporters violently attacked the Capitol as Congress certified Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021.
The nine-member panel — seven Democrats and two Republicans — interviewed witnesses through all of August, and they are hoping to have another hearing this month.
The release of a final report will likely come close to the end of the year so the panel can maximize its time. While many of the findings will already be known, the report is expected to thread the story together in a definitive way that lays out the committee’s conclusions.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
