Rafi Prober and Thomas Moyer Speak with The National Law Journal on Prepping for Congressional Hearings into Lafayette Square Controversy
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The National Law Journal has published the article “Inside the Controversy at Lafayette Square,” a Q&A with Akin Gump congressional investigations co-head Rafi Prober and counsel Thomas Moyer regarding the Congressional investigation into the events that took place in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. on Monday, June 1, 2020.
Along with Rev. Gini Gerbasi, the rector of Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. whom Prober and Moyer represented, the three discussed how they prepared for congressional hearings into the violent removal of protestors near the White House. Gerbasi testified virtually before a House Oversight and Reform subcommittee, as did Bishop Mariann Budde of the Washington National Cathedral before the House Natural Resources Committee, who also prepared beforehand with Prober and Moyer.
Moyer stated that, while different members of Congress would have differing perspectives on what happened in Lafayette Square, “what [Rev. Gerbasi] witnessed, was what [she] witnessed. We worked with her to figure out ways to pivot, regardless of what the question was, back to the fundamental truth of what she experienced.”
Added Prober, “This is one of those circumstances where there’s so much politics around all of this, and it’s so politically charged. But, at the end of the day, .… It was about the Constitution, and it was about social justice.”
Gerbasi spoke of how Prober and Moyer prepared her to handle lines of questioning dealing with differing accounts of what transpired. She noted that they helped her to focus on what she “actually observed” and to bring it back to “what [she] saw and what was the meaning of that.”
While the pandemic affected the Akin Gump team’s ability to work with Gerbasi and Budde in person, Moyer said their work over Zoom was “very much along the lines of what we would typically do.”
Even though the hearing format was somewhat unusual, Prober said the general objective was still “helping a client determine how to most effectively communicate their story and what their goals are and to help them accomplish that.” Fundamentally, he added, “it was the same exercise.”
To read the article in its entirety, please click here.
