Republicans are planning their own Jan. 6 investigations if they regain the House majority that will turn the focus away from former President Donald Trump.
GOP lawmakers would use their investigative powers to examine security failures that day, while also recommending changes to the management and structure of U.S. Capitol security that would go into effect before their probes even began, reported Politico.
“I think it’s been very well-documented that there were significant intelligence and communications failures on Jan. 6,” said Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND). "It’s not the first time we’ve had those issues. We have to stop that.”
Republicans intend to remove metal detectors that were installed around the House chambers after Jan. 6, which have resulted in fines for lawmakers who tried to get around them, and they plan to reopen the Capitol complex.
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“[We] will make recommendations to the next speaker … on how to provide better leadership and oversight of the Capitol police,” said Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), who is leading the team that will issue a report later this year outlining those changes.
They also intend to open multiple investigations of House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), including her decision to allow COVID-infected lawmakers to vote in person for House leadership, and to pin blame on her for Jan. 6 security failures, which her office dismissed as ridiculous.
“Numerous independent fact checkers have confirmed that Speaker Pelosi did not plan her own assassination,” said her deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill. “The former president’s desperate lies aside, the speaker was no more in charge of the security of the U.S. Capitol that day than Mitch McConnell.”