In mid-May, the House voted 252-175 to create an independent commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. 35 House Republicans voted with all of the House Democrats.
The “Grim Reaper of Democracy,” Mitch McConnell, and the Sedition Caucus in the Senate filibustered the independent January 6 Commission. Six Republicans joined Democrats in the 54-35 vote, but that fell six votes short of the 60 needed for cloture to even begin debate in the Senate (a tyranny of the minority).
Senate Republicans did Mitch McConnell a ‘personal favor’ rather than their patriotic duty and voted against the bipartisan commission negotiated by Democrats and Republicans in the House. But Democrats are determined to find the truth.
Read my statement: https://t.co/0KNpWzQkLH— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 29, 2021
Today, the House voted 222-190 to establish a House select committee dedicated to investigating the January 6 insurrection, with only two Republicans, Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), joining all Democrats to back the new committee. House approves select panel to probe Jan. 6 attack:
House Democrats decided to move forward with the select committee after legislation to establish an independent bipartisan commission was blocked by Senate Republicans last month. Just 35 House Republicans and seven GOP senators supported a commission, while the rest of the party argued it was unnecessary as they continue to latch themselves to former President Trump.
The partisan fight over investigating Jan. 6 unfolded on Wednesday as multiple police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 from the mob of Trump’s supporters looked on in the House gallery.
They included Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges, two Metropolitan Police Department officers who were brutally attacked by the rioters, and Harry Dunn, a Capitol Police officer who has been pressing lawmakers to investigate Jan. 6.
Fallen Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick’s partner, Sandra, and his mother, Gladys, were also among the guests invited by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
“We have a duty to the Constitution and to the American people to find the truth of Jan. 6, and to ensure that such an assault on our democracy can never happen again,” Pelosi said.
The commission proposal would have given Republicans an equal number of members, co-equal subpoena power and a deadline for an investigative report by year’s end.
Instead, the select committee will be composed of eight members selected by Pelosi and five chosen “after consultation with” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
CBS News adds:
Pelosi may essentially have veto power over McCarthy’s choices, as McCarthy will be able to make appointments in consultation with the speaker. So if McCarthy wanted to appoint a member who had downplayed January 6, or voted to overturn the Electoral College results, she could reject his choice.
The panel’s investigation could easily spill into next year while both parties are gearing up for the midterm elections, an outcome that Republicans wanted to avoid with the commission proposal.
Time to go Benghazi! on their traitorous asses. Hold these hearings in the evening for prime time news coverage.
Yet Republicans justified voting against the select committee because they believed it would be overly partisan and called for including other instances of political violence in its scope, such as the 2017 shooting at GOP lawmakers’ baseball practice.
Fucking traitors! This is about the only seditious insurrection against the U.S. Capitol in our history on January 6. It was carried out by the MAGA/QAnon personality cult of Donald Trump, incited by Trump with the aid and comfort – and possibly aided and abetted by – Congressional Republicans. 147 Republican lawmakers who still objected to the election results even after the Capitol attack. They are accomplices, and some are coconspirators implicated in organizing the assault, in the greatest crime in American history.
Check out this new investigative video compilation from the New York Times. Day of Rage: An Investigation of How a Mob Stormed the Capitol (Our 40-minute visual investigation maps out what else happened — and why. Watch it here.) (Currently subscriber access).
None of the top House GOP leaders spoke during the debate on Wednesday.
The select committee will be tasked with investigating and reporting upon “the facts, circumstances and causes” relating to Jan. 6, including law enforcement agencies’ preparation and the “influencing factors that fomented” the attack to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.
Pelosi has indicated she may appoint a Republican to the panel, which would lend it bipartisan credence while highlighting the divisions among Republicans over their own role promoting Trump’s false claims of election fraud leading up to the attack.
Pelosi only has two Republicans from which to choose, Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.)
I agree with Elie Mystal, The Nation‘s justice correspondent:
My starting point for Republicans on the Jan 6 commission is *0*. The entire universe of Republicans available for the Jan 6 commission, based on their votes in Congress, is *2*.
If you think yourself more reasonable than me, but not a complete sap, your answer should be *1*.
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) June 30, 2021
hard agree from me
re any investigation of 1/6
.@ElieNYC on #TheReidOut says the default to response to republicans should be: pic.twitter.com/t5gQEWZfvd
— Darrell Bear (@MrChillBro) June 29, 2021
Cheney and Kinzinger, who have been openly critical of their party’s continued embrace of Trump, haven’t ruled out the possibility of serving on the panel if they were asked by Pelosi.
Two Republicans who have been openly critical of their party’s continued embrace of Trump, Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), didn’t rule out the possibility of serving on the panel if they were asked by Pelosi.
Kinzinger said before voting for the bill that he would have preferred the independent commission but that a select committee was better than nothing.
“It’s not my favorite option. But the point is, we can’t keep pretending like Jan. 6 didn’t happen. We need full accounting for it,” Kinzinger told a Fox affiliate ahead of the vote.
Cheney noted “it is right to be wary of an overtly partisan inquiry,” but that the select committee is “our only remaining option.”
Cheney, who was booted from her third-ranking leadership post in May, further took a shot at GOP leaders for declining to push back against Trump.
“Since January 6th, the courage of my party’s leaders has faded. But the threat to our Republic has not. On an almost daily basis, Donald Trump repeats the same statements that provoked violence before,” Cheney said in a statement.
But other members of the group of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the mob to stop Congress from ratifying President Biden’s election victory declined to back the select panel, arguing it would be overly partisan. That included Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), who crafted the independent commission bill. He said he didn’t think the select committee would be productive.
Katko, the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, indicated he wasn’t interested in serving on the select panel.
Nobody asked you.
[I]t’s not yet clear who McCarthy might tap to serve on the panel that is sure to draw Trump’s ire. McCarthy has so far declined to commit publicly whether he’d avoid appointing any of the Republicans who have recently downplayed the severity of the Jan. 6 attack, such as Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), who suggested one image of the rioters looked like a “normal tourist visit.”
Some of the conservative firebrands who are among Trump’s biggest defenders in Congress have expressed enthusiasm for serving on the committee, including Reps. Marjorie “Q” Greene (Ga.) and Matt Gaetz (Fla.).
Both Gaetz and Greene were among the 21 Republicans who voted against legislation earlier this month to award Congressional Gold Medals to the police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The MAGA/QAnon personality cult of Donald Trump remains a clear and present danger and a domestic terrorism threat.
Today’s vote follows a new Homeland Security bulletin obtained exclusively by ABC News on Friday warning that “violent extremists might seek to exploit easing COVID-19 restrictions, increased access to mass gatherings, and possible changes in levels of violence during the summer months to conduct attacks against a range of potential targets with little or no warning.” US facing ‘complex and volatile’ threats from domestic extremism: DHS:
The United States is facing “threats that have evolved significantly and become increasingly complex and volatile in 2021,” according to an updated National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin on domestic violent extremism issued Friday by the Department of Homeland Security.
“These threats include those posed by domestic terrorists, individuals and groups engaged in grievance-based violence, and those inspired or influenced by foreign terrorists and other malign foreign influences,” the bulletin reads. “Social media and online forums are increasingly exploited by these actors to influence and spread violent extremist narratives and activity.”
Shortly after President Joe Biden was sworn into office, DHS issued the first NTAS bulletin on domestic violent extremism in years. The bulletin the agency issued in January ran out April 26.
DHS also notes in its new bulletin that violent extremists could seek to exploit the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention introduced new mask guidelines, which stated that fully vaccinated people do not have to wear a mask inside or outdoors.
“Violent extremists may seek to exploit the easing of COVID-19-related restrictions across the United States to conduct attacks against a broader range of targets after previous public capacity limits reduced opportunities for lethal attacks,” according to the bulletin.
Elizabeth Neumann, a former DHS assistant secretary, told ABC News that reopening will create counterterrorism concerns for law enforcement.
“Counterterrorism, law enforcement and mental health professionals have been concerned since last spring that the stress caused by the pandemic, and all of the associated mitigative actions, were likely to lead to an increase in violence when we reopen and return to large, group gatherings,” Neumann, an ABC News contributor, said.
Additionally, DHS writes that “ideologically-motivated violent extremists fueled by perceived grievances, false narratives, and conspiracy theories continue to share information online with the intent to incite violence.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called the threats facing the country “more dynamic, and more diversified than it was several years ago.”
“We know that providing timely and useful information to the public is critical as we all work together to secure the homeland,” Mayorkas said in a statement. “With the issuance of today’s NTAS Bulletin, we are advising the public to be vigilant about ongoing threats to the United States, including those posed by domestic terrorism, grievance-based violence, and those inspired or influenced by foreign terrorists and other malign foreign influences.”
The department has made combatting domestic violent extremism a priority.
On Tuesday, the secretary established a domestic terrorism branch in the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis and established the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships in an effort to combat terrorism and targeted violence. DHS previously used Federal Emergency Management Agency grants to combat domestic terrorism by having each recipient allocate at least 7% toward combatting domestic terrorism.
The Department of Homeland Security also warned that certain websites could be advocating for violence against government officials. It does not, however, name any specific officials.
“Online narratives across sites known to be frequented by individuals who hold violent extremist ideologies have called for violence against elected officials, political representatives, government facilities, law enforcement, religious or commercial facilities, and perceived ideologically-opposed individuals,” the bulletin issued on Friday reads.
DHS mentions in the bulletin that the use of encrypted messaging could make it harder for law enforcement to track these cells.
The agency also writes that nation states are continually amplifying messages to sow discord in the United States.
“For example, Russian, Chinese and Iranian government-linked media outlets have repeatedly amplified conspiracy theories concerning the origins of COVID-19 and effectiveness of vaccines; in some cases, amplifying calls for violence targeting persons of Asian descent,” according to the bulletin.
Javed Ali, a former top counterterrorism official on the National Security Council, said that Friday’s bulletin shows the concern agencies have about domestic violent extremism.
“While the bulletin does not appear to be based on a single and specific credible threat, it notes a range of factors and grievances that could drive individuals or groups to attack plotting,” said Ali, a Towsley policymaker in residence at the University of Michigan. “The use other similar NTAS bulletins over the past year shows a more mature and disciplined use by DHS for this product, with the goal of educating and informing multiple stakeholders.”
DHS writes it remain “committed to identifying and preventing domestic terrorism.”
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