A House hearing with former Trump special counsel Jack Smith was disrupted Thursday when a former police officer who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 confronted a vocal 2020 election conspiracy theorist.
Why it matters: Such heated altercations are becoming more and more common in congressional hearings, though rarely to this degree of animus and near physicality.
- Former D.C. Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone repeatedly told far-right operative Ivan Raiklin "go f*ck yourself" at the hearing, where the two were both in attendance as audience members.
- "You're a traitor to this f*cking country," Fanone also told Raiklin, getting close enough that two of his former law enforcement colleagues had to restrain him.
Confrontation between former Capitol Police Officer Michael Fanone and Ivan Raiklin during a recess in the House Judiciary Cmte. Jack Smith hearing. pic.twitter.com/5onkHzJuZW
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 22, 2026
Driving the news: The altercation occurred during a recess in the Judiciary Committee's hearing, with Raiklin starting off the interaction by trying to shake Fanone's hand.
- Fanone repeatedly cursed at Raiklin and told him not to "pretend" that they are on good terms, Raiklin responded, "Why do you have to lose your cool like that?"
- "This guy has threatened my family, threatened my children. Threatened to rape my children ... you sick bastard," Fanone told Raiklin as people gathered around the two men.
- "F*cking do something," Fanone dared Raiklin. "Do something."
Between the lines: Fanone was one of several law enforcement officers who testified to the Jan. 6 Select Committee in 2021 about his experience defending the Capitol from rioters earlier that year.
- The ex-MPD officer said he was "grabbed, beaten, tased, all while being called a traitor to my country."
- Raiklin, for his part, was a key figure in pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to try to overturn the 2020 election results and has continued to propagate conspiracy theories about the election.
Zoom out: Fanone's fellow Capitol Police veterans, Jared Dunn and Aquilino Gonell, quickly rushed to hold Fanone back and de-escalate the situation, with Dunn telling Fanone repeatedly, "Let's take a seat."
- Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) then banged his gavel and called the hearing to order, with ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) thanking Fanone and Democrats applauding the former officer.
- "Mr. Chairman, please control the deranged observer Mr. Raiklin," Raskin told Jordan.
