United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the House committee. For the failed proposal, see January 6 commission.
Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol
Select committee
Active
Seal of the United States House of Representatives.svg
United States House of Representatives
117th Congress
History
FormedJuly 1, 2021
Leadership
ChairBennie Thompson (D)
Since July 1, 2021
Vice chairLiz Cheney (R)
Since September 2, 2021
Structure
Seats13[note 1]
Political partiesMajority (7)
  •   Democratic (7)
Minority (2)
Jurisdiction
PurposeTo investigate the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021
Senate counterpartNone
Website
january6th.house.gov

The U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol is a select committee of the United States House of Representatives formed through a largely party-line vote, on July 1, 2021, to investigate the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 earlier that year.[1] The attack was a culmination of the attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election. The membership of the committee has been a point of significant political contention, with House Republicans boycotting the committee. The investigation commenced with public hearings on July 27, when four police officers testified.

History[]

In the aftermath of the 2021 United States Capitol attack, the proposal to form a bicameral commission failed due to a filibuster from Republicans in the Senate.[2] In late May, when it had become apparent that the filibuster would not be overcome, Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated that she would appoint a select committee to investigate the events as a fallback option.[3][4][5][6][1]

2021 United States
Capitol attack
2021 storming of the United States Capitol 09 (cropped).jpg
Protesters gathered outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021
Timeline of events
Background
2020 presidential election
and other causes
Related groups and persons
Participants
List
Law enforcement response
Aftermath
Biden inauguration
hide
Investigations and charges
Corporate actions
Reactions
Impeachment
  • v
  • t

On June 30, 2021, the resolution to form the committee passed by a vote of 222 to 190, with all Democratic members and two Republican members, Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, voting in favor. Sixteen Republican members did not vote.[7] The resolution empowers Pelosi to appoint eight members to the committee, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy can appoint five members "in consultation" with Pelosi.[8] Pelosi indicated that she would name a Republican as one of her eight appointees.[9]

On July 1, Pelosi appointed eight members, seven Democrats and one Republican, Liz Cheney (R-WY); Bennie Thompson (D-MS) would serve as committee chair.[10] On July 19, McCarthy announced the five members he would recommend as the Minority on the Select Committee. He recommended that Jim Banks (R-IN) serve as Ranking Member, and minority members be Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), and Troy Nehls (R-TX).[11] Banks, Jordan, and Nehls voted to overturn the Electoral College results in Arizona and Pennsylvania. Banks and Jordan had also signed onto the Supreme Court case Texas v. Pennsylvania to invalidate the ballots of voters in four states.[12]

On July 21, Thompson told the Guardian in an interview that he would investigate Trump as part of the inquiry into Capitol attack.[13] Hours later, Pelosi said in a statement that she had informed McCarthy that she would reject the recommendations of Jordan and Banks, citing concerns for the investigation's integrity and relevant actions and statements made by the two members. She approved the recommendations of the other three.[14] McCarthy then pulled all of his picks for the committee and stated that he would not appoint anyone on the committee unless all of the five were approved.[15][16]

After McCarthy rescinded his recommendations, Pelosi appointed Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) to the committee.[17] Kinzinger was one of the ten House Republicans who voted for Trump's second impeachment.[18] Pelosi was also considering to hire a Republican as an outside committee staffer or advisor, such as former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA), who met with Cheney and Pelosi. Cheney voiced her support and pushed for both of their involvement.[18] On July 25, Speaker Pelosi officially announced the appointment of Rep. Kinzinger to the Select Committee.[19]

In a press release, Thompson announced the senior staff for the committee. This included:[20]

  • David Buckley as staff director. Served as CIA inspector general, and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence minority staff director
  • Kristin Amerling as deputy staff director / chief counsel. Served as deputy general counsel at the Transportation Department and chief counsel of multiple congressional committees.
  • Hope Goins as counsel to the chairman. Served as top advisor to Thompson on homeland security and national security matters.
  • Candyce Phoenix as senior counsel / senior advisor. Serves as staff director of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
  • Tim Mulvey as communications director. Served as communications director for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Denver Riggleman, a former U.S. House representative, and Joe Maher, a principal deputy general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, were hired as staffers on August 6.[21] On August 12, Timothy J. Heaphy was appointed as the committee's chief investigative counsel.[22]

Members, 117th congress[]

Majority Minority

Hearings[]

Logo of the committee

The committee held its first public testimony on July 27, and heard from four police officers who were in the front line as rioters attacked the Capitol. The whole committee had prepped the day before. Thompson and Cheney gave opening statements.[24][25]

  • Daniel Hodges, a Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia officer, said he was crushed in a doorway between rioters and a police line. A man has pled not guilty to assaulting him and grabbing his gear.[26][27][28]
  • Michael Fanone, a Metropolitan Police Department officer, said rioters pulled him into the crowd, beat him with a flagpole, stole his badge, repeatedly tased him with his taser and went for his gun.[26][29][30] He supported the creation of the January 6 commission and criticized those who downplayed the attack.[26][28]
  • Harry Dunn, a Private First Class of the U.S. Capitol Police, spoke about the racial abuse he and other officers experienced during the attack.[26][28]
  • Aquilino Gonell, a U.S. Capitol Police sergeant, said he was beaten with a flagpole and chemically sprayed.[26][28]

Proceedings[]

August[]

CNN reported committee investigators would seek phone records of several people, including members of Congress.[31] The Committee also sought records of at least thirty members of Trump's inner circle from seven government agencies and the National Archives and Records Administration, which preserves White House communication records.[32][33]

Reactions[]

Prior to committee formation[]

According to several reports, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had warned Republican members that if they allowed Speaker Nancy Pelosi to appoint them to the select committee, they would be stripped of all their other committee assignments and should not expect to receive any future ones from Pelosi. In an interview with Forbes, Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said "Who gives a shit?" He added, "When you've got people who say crazy stuff and you're not gonna make that threat, but you make that threat to truth-tellers, you've lost any credibility." Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who had been ousted from her leadership role as chair of the House Republican conference the month prior, said in a statement, "I'm honored to have been named to serve on the January 6th select committee."[34]

House Leader McCarthy called the rejection of his initial recommendations "unprecedented" in a phone call with Pelosi. In a press conference, he labelled her a "lame duck speaker" out to destroy the institution. The Freedom Caucus pushed for McCarthy to file a motion to vacate the speakership, and punish Cheney and Kinzinger for accepting their appointments to the committee.[35][36] McCarthy later dubbed them "Pelosi Republicans."[24][25] Republicans also stated that if they won the House majority in the 2022 midterm elections, they would come after Democratic committee assignments, targeting Eric Swalwell and Ilhan Omar.[36] Steve Scalise stated that Pelosi had removed any credibility from the committee for rejecting their recommended members and opted instead a political narrative.[36] Republicans Scott Perry, Chip Roy, and Kelly Armstrong expressed their disdain for both Cheney and Kinzinger and questioned their loyalty to the House Republican Conference, pushing for them to be stripped of their committee assignments.[35][24] Jim Banks and Mike Rogers stated that the two GOP committee members would be stuck to Pelosi's narrative of events.[24] Cheney and Kinzinger both dismissed comments from their colleagues.[24]

After Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's picks for the committee, The Wall Street Journal editorial board criticized Pelosi's rejection of McCarthy's picks. It acknowledged that McCarthy's picks were partisan, but claimed that Adam Schiff, who was appointed by Pelosi, had "lied repeatedly about the evidence concerning the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia." The editorial board posited, "if Mrs. Pelosi thinks the evidence for her conclusion is persuasive, why would she not want to have it tested against the most aggressive critics?"[37]

After committee formation[]

In late August 2021, after the committee asked telecommunications and social media companies to retain certain records, McCarthy declared that if the companies "turn over private information" to the House committee, then the companies are "in violation of federal law and subject to losing their ability to operate in the United States", and that a future Republican legislative majority will hold the companies "fully accountable".[38] In response to McCarthy's comment, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint on September 3 with the chief counsel of the Office of Congressional Ethics. CREW noted that the subpoena was legally valid and claimed that McCarthy was illegally obstructing the investigation insofar as he was “threatening retaliation" against the telecommunications companies.[39] Eleven House Republicans who were associated with the January 6 "Stop the Steal" rally sent a September 3 letter to thirteen telecommunications companies stating they "do not consent to the release of confidential call records or data" and threatening legal action against what they asserted were unconstitutional subpoenas.[40][41][42][43]

The Guardian reported that the Committee, through the records request from August, was examining whether there was White House involvement in planning the Capitol attack and whether Trump had advance knowledge of the riot.[44]

During a September 2 television interview, McCarthy was asked about "how deeply [Trump] was involved," to which he replied that the FBI and Senate committees had found "no involvement."[45] He and other Republicans had cited an exclusive Reuters report that unnamed current and former law enforcement officials said the FBI had found "scant evidence" of an organized plot to overturn the election. In a September 4 statement, Thompson and Cheney said the committee had queried executive branch agencies and congressional committees investigating the matter and "it's been made clear to us that reports of such a conclusion are baseless."[46][47]

Polling[]

According to a poll by Politico, a majority of Americans support the January 6 investigation, with 58% overall supporting and 29% opposing; 52% of Republicans polled opposed it.[48]

References[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Some House Republicans are boycotting the committee. Speaker Pelosi appointed only two Republicans to the committee.

Bibliography[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Committees | house.gov". www.house.gov. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  2. ^ Lowell, Hugo (2021-05-29). "How Mitch McConnell killed the US Capitol attack commission". Guardian US. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  3. ^ Swanson, Ian (2021-05-26). "GOP gambles with Pelosi in opposing Jan. 6 commission". TheHill. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
  4. ^ Pelosi, Nancy (June 28, 2021). "Pelosi Statement on the Introduction of H.Res. 503 Establishing the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol". Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  5. ^ "Pelosi announces select committee to investigate Jan. 6 Capitol riot". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  6. ^ Jeremy Herb, Clare Foran, Ryan Nobles and Daniella Diaz. "Pelosi announces the House will establish a select committee to investigate Capitol riot". CNN. Retrieved 2021-06-24.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ House votes to create select committee to investigate January 6 attack, CBS News, Grace Segers, June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  8. ^ "House votes to create select committee to investigate January 6 insurrection". CNN. June 30, 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  9. ^ Segers, Grace (July 1, 2021). "Pelosi names members of January 6 select committee, including Liz Cheney". CBS News. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  10. ^ Freking, Kevin, A look at 8 lawmakers appointed to probe Jan. 6 attack, The Associated Press, July 2, 2021
  11. ^ "McCarthy makes his 5 GOP picks for Jan. 6 select committee". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  12. ^ Annie Grayer and Melanie Zanona. "Jim Jordan among 5 House Republicans selected by McCarthy for January 6 select committee". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  13. ^ Lowell, Hugo (2021-07-21). "Capitol attack committee chair vows to investigate Trump: 'Nothing is off limits'". Guardian US. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  14. ^ "Pelosi Statement on Republican Recommendations to Serve on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol". Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 2021-07-21. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  15. ^ Annie Grayer, Jeremy Herb, Ryan Nobles and Daniella Diaz. "McCarthy pulls his 5 GOP members from 1/6 committee after Pelosi rejects 2 of his picks". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-21.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Lowell, Hugo (2021-07-21). "McCarthy pulls five Republicans from Capitol attack panel after Pelosi rejects two". Guardian US. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  17. ^ Guilford, Gwynn (July 25, 2021). "Rep. Adam Kinzinger Named to Jan. 6 Committee" – via www.wsj.com.
  18. ^ Jump up to: a b Melanie Zanona and Manu Raju (2021-07-22). "Pelosi looks to bolster bipartisan standing of 1/6 panel with potential addition of GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  19. ^ "Pelosi Announces Appointment of Congressman Adam Kinzinger to Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol". Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 2021-07-25. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  20. ^ "Thompson Announces Senior Staff for Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol". Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. 2021-07-22. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  21. ^ Amy B. Wang. (7 August 2021). "Jan. 6 committee hires former GOP congressman Denver Riggleman as senior staff member". Washington Post website Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  22. ^ Cain, Andrew (August 12, 2021). "Heaphy to serve as chief investigative counsel for committee probing Jan. 6 attack on U.S. Capitol". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  23. ^ "CHAIRMAN THOMPSON ANNOUNCES REPRESENTATIVE CHENEY AS SELECT COMMITTEE VICE CHAIR". 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  24. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Melanie Zanona, Ryan Nobles and Lauren Fox. "Cheney and Kinzinger prepare for blockbuster hearing amid attacks from their own party". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b "First Jan. 6 select committee hearing gives cops spotlight". Roll Call. 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  26. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Zachary Cohen and Marshall Cohen. "The January 6 select committee will hear from 4 police officers Tuesday. Here are their stories". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  27. ^ Kelsie Smith and Travis Caldwell. "Disturbing video shows officer crushed against door by mob attacking the Capitol". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  28. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol to Hold First Hearing July 27th". Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  29. ^ Zachary Cohen. "Exclusive: Newly obtained bodycam footage shows moment DC police officer attacked by pro-Trump rioters". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  30. ^ Paul LeBlanc and Caroline Kelly. "DC police officer: 'It's been very difficult' seeing elected officials trying to whitewash brutal insurrection". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  31. ^ Zachary Cohen, Ryan Nobles, Annie Grayer and Whitney Wild. "House committee plans to seek phone records in probe of January 6, including from members of Congress". CNN.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  32. ^ Wilkie, Christina (August 25, 2021). "Jan. 6 committee demands a huge trove of Trump White House records". CNBC.
  33. ^ Thompson, Bennie. "Letter to U.S. National Archives and Records Administration" (PDF). Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  34. ^ Solender, Andrew. "McCarthy Threatens Committee Assignments Of Members Who Take Jan. 6 Committee Seat From Pelosi". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  35. ^ Jump up to: a b Ryan Nobles and Melanie Zanona. "Growing group of GOP members wants McCarthy to punish Kinzinger and Cheney for joining January 6 committee". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  36. ^ Jump up to: a b c Melanie Zanona and Manu Raju. "'What you're doing is unprecedented': McCarthy-Pelosi feud boils over". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  37. ^ The Editorial Board (2021-07-21). "Opinion | Pelosi Blows Up Her Jan. 6 Committee". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  38. ^ Sonmez, Felicia; Lima, Cristiano (September 1, 2021). "Rep. McCarthy threatens tech and telecom firms that comply with Jan.6 committee's request". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 1, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  39. ^ Papenfuss, Mary (2021-09-03). "Watchdog Demands Probe Of Kevin McCarthy's Threats Against Firms In Jan. 6 Investigation". HuffPost. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  40. ^ Solender, Andrew. "Ethics Watchdog Requests Probe Into Kevin McCarthy, Marjorie Taylor Greene For 'Threatening' Telecom Firms". Forbes.
  41. ^ Slisco, Aila (September 3, 2021). "11 House Republicans back up Kevin McCarthy's threat to telecoms over 1/6 Committee". Newsweek.
  42. ^ Broadwater, Luke; Rosenberg, Matthew (January 29, 2021). "Republican Ties to Extremist Groups Are Under Scrutiny" – via NYTimes.com.
  43. ^ Edmondson, Catie; Broadwater, Luke (January 12, 2021). "Trump loyalists in Congress fanned flames before Capitol riot" – via NYTimes.com.
  44. ^ Lowell, Hugo (2021-09-01). "Capitol riot inquiry to investigate whether Trump's White House was involved in attack". Guardian US. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  45. ^ "Rep. Kevin McCarthy discusses Afghanistan, Capitol riot probe". September 3, 2021.
  46. ^ Ryan Nobles and Daniella Diaz. "January 6 select committee refutes claim by McCarthy that the Justice Department cleared Trump of any role in insurrection". CNN.
  47. ^ "Exclusive: FBI finds scant evidence U.S. Capitol attack was coordinated - sources". Reuters. August 21, 2021.
  48. ^ "A majority of Americans support a congressional Jan. 6 investigation". MSNBC. July 28, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
Retrieved from ""