House Approves Establishing New Committee To Investigate Jan. 6 Capitol Breach

Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 3 approved the establishment of a new committee to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

In a 212–208 vote, the House approved a rule that wrapped in the new panel as well as a provision endorsing the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Included in the rules package was a resolution by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) authorizing the creation of the panel, which will be chaired by Loudermilk. The new panel falls under the jurisdiction of the House Judiciary Committee.

It’s the second panel approved by Congress to investigate the events on the day of and leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, during which a crowd of President Donald Trump’s supporters attending the “Stop the Steal” rally entered the Capitol.

The incident delayed the vote to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. Lawmakers reconvened to finish the proceedings after the crowd had been cleared from the building.

The vote fulfills a promise made by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) at the start of the 119th Congress to form a new subcommittee on the subject, as its Democrat-led predecessor had long faced allegations of bias and partisanship.

The resolution to authorize the new panel was introduced by Loudermilk—who was targeted for investigation by the previous Jan. 6 panel for a tour he gave of the Capitol complex in the days ahead of the Jan. 6 rally—a day before the House left for its August recess.

In a statement ahead of the recess, Johnson, who gave his backing to the bill, said, “House Republicans are proud of our work so far in exposing the false narratives peddled by the politically motivated January 6 Select Committee during the 117th Congress, but there is clearly more work to be done.”

Johnson said that the resolution would allow Congress to “continue our efforts to uncover the full truth that is owed to the American people.”

The first panel was approved by Democrats in 2021. Controversially, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) did not allow then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to select which Republicans would sit on the panel.

Instead, Pelosi chose two Republicans critical of Trump to sit on the panel: Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) was named ranking member, and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) was also appointed to the GOP side.

The panel was highly critical of Trump, concluding in their final report that he was responsible for the events of the day and failed to take appropriate action to disperse the crowd after they entered the building.

Trump has maintained that he was not responsible. He and his allies have pointed to the administration’s offer to send National Guard to the Capitol ahead of the Jan. 6 rally. According to then-House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving, a request from the Capitol Police for National Guard support was denied because Pelosi “would never go for it.”