Lawmakers in Washington, D.C. began certifying electoral college votes which would solidify Joe Biden as the nation's next president on Wednesday, but proceedings were cut short when supporters of President Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol.

The riot occurred after an unprecedented pushback from hundreds of Republican lawmakers over President Trump's continued unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud.

"Four times, I was part of this certification process of the electoral college results," former Congressional Leader Zach Wamp told Channel 3.

Wamp, who represented Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District for 16 years, said he'd never seen the process look like this.

"This is a circus," he said while watching from his Chattanooga office hours before chaos erupted. "This is only the third time in history that a senator — not just House members — have objected to the results of the electoral college," he continued.

13 senators and more than 140 members of the House of Representatives — including Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, Senator Marsha Blackburn and Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee — had all announced plans to challenge the vote citing President Trump's unsubstantiated claims of massive voter fraud.

"The Justice Department, the Cyber Security Agency, the Homeland Security Agency — all of the investigations have shown there was not widespread fraud," Wamp said.

The former Republican congressman sits on the National Council for Election Integrity, a bipartisan group of esteemed lawmakers that have, for months, been studying the 2020 election cycle in preparation for the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We know what happened, we know where the challenges were and we know the law, and it is not even close," he explained.

He told Channel 3 while the results will likely be certified in the coming days with majority support in both chambers, his concern is what the future of the two-party system and elections in the land of the free will look like.

"If people don't understand the difference between truth and reality and fiction and millions of people believe something that's not true, we're in trouble," he said.

In spite of all the madness, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for the counting process to continue tonight once it's deemed safe.

This is a developing story. Stay with WRCB for updates.