President Donald Trump's nominee for the Bureau of Labor Statistics was merely a bystander outside the Capitol during the protest of Jan. 6, 2021, according to the White House.
E.J. Antoni, a Heritage Foundation economist recently nominated by Trump after the previous BLS head was dismissed, appears in multiple social media videos in the Capitol crowd.
According to a statement issued by a White House official Wednesday, Antoni was present in Washington on Jan. 6 for scheduled in-person meetings with his former employer at an office located several blocks from the Capitol. The available footage confirms that Antoni did not cross any barricades or engage in demonstrations.
"These pictures show EJ Antoni, a bystander to the events of January 6th, observing and then leaving the Capitol area," White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in an emailed statement. "EJ was in town for meetings, and it is wrong and defamatory to suggest EJ engaged in anything inappropriate or illegal."
Footage from the social media platform Parler shows Antoni about an hour after police barricades were removed. He is seen leaving as people enter the Capitol but does not appear to go inside. One video places him on the west side of the Capitol, while surveillance footage was posted online by a Republican-led House committee.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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