Members of a pro-Trump mob storm the Capitol building to disrupt the recording of Electoral College votes to confirm the victory of President-elect Joe Biden in Washington, Jan. 6, 2020. Not long after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned his Republican colleagues that their efforts to overturn an election would send democracy into a death spiral, fear surged through the Senate chamber. Erin Schaff/The New York Times. by Sarah Bahr (NYT NEWS SERVICE) .- Barbara A. Wolanin did not leave her TV much Wednesday afternoon, watching terrified, she said, as hundreds of Donald Trump rioters rushed into the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building where eight large, framed historical paintings hang. She once was curator for the Architect of the Capitol, the office that preserves and maintains the buildings art and architecture. She knew much better than most the horrific possibilities that were presenting themselves. What if rioters slashed John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, one of the large paintings from the early 1800s that depict Americas fight for freedom? Or smashed the bronze bust of Martin Luther King Jr.? All the art in the Capitol is basically on view, said Wolanin, 77, who served as Curator for the Architect of the Capitol from 1985 until she retired in 2015. There arent a lot of things hidden away. For nearly four hours, the collection she h ... More