House Republicans voted to create a new subcommittee to further investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the United States Capitol building. This will be the third time the House of Representatives conducts a probe into the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.
What do Republicans want to learn?
Republicans say they have many unanswered questions, including why the Capitol Police were so ill-prepared despite intelligence assessments that showed what rioters were planning.
“It was very clear it was going to get ugly up here. There was going to be a high propensity for violence,” Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, told Straight Arrow News. “All of it was there, and then they didn’t do anything with it.”
Nehls said that Capitol Police officers, in particular, were not properly notified or prepared for the dangers. He also said the National Guard should have been deployed.
“I’d have said, ‘Oh my goodness gracious. We got to be prepared for this, and we need the guard,’” Nehls told SAN. “If somebody would have taken the report seriously and passed it along to the right people, Jan. 6 would have never happened.”
The eight-member panel will have five Republicans and three Democrats.
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What do Democrats think of the new committee?
Democratic leadership said they will not allow Republicans to rewrite history about what happened on Jan.6, 2021.
Rioters broke into the Capitol building by pushing past police barricades and breaking through windows and doors in an attempt to stop the certification of Biden’s election victory. More than 140 police officers were assaulted, and there was millions of dollars in property damage.
“They are so desperate to paper over what happened that day, to whitewash it and to pretend it was a normal tourist visit,” Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said. “You can be damn sure that I’m not going to let anyone pretend that January 6th was a normal tourist visit.”
Hasn’t this already been investigated?
Democrats formed a select investigative committee in June 2021 when they had a majority in Congress. It conducted hearings and released a final report. But Republicans call that committee a “sham” because Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., blocked certain Republicans from joining.
Republicans also said the committee, led by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., wasn’t out to find the truth but rather damage Trump’s reputation and reelection prospects.
