GOP keep changing their excuse for opposing 1/6 commission because they know it will incriminate them: reporter

Writing for The Washington Post, reporter Aaron Blake analyzed the constant shift in reasons Republicans are providing to oppose the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6th pro-Trump attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"If you look closely at how Republicans have defended this decision, you'll see how much they are foraging for reasons to oppose it," wrote Blake. "Initially, the argument was that the commission should focus not just on the Capitol riot, but also on unrelated violence at other demonstrations — specifically involving far-left Antifa activists and at Black Lives Matter protests last summer." Then, later, Blake noted, leaders like Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) claimed the commission was "slanted and unbalanced" even though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) agreed to every demand House Republicans had for its rules. Now, other Republicans, like Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), are claiming it is "too early" to create a commission.

The reason they are constantly inventing new excuses, argued Blake, is that they can't admit the real one: that a commission, even a bipartisan one, would incriminate their own party.

"There have been plenty of indications that Republicans don't want to see a congressional Jan. 6 commission for one very basic reason: It's politically bad," wrote Blake. "It's bad because it would necessarily point the finger (to some degree) at Donald Trump, the former Republican president — at whom even many top Republicans previously pointed the finger. It's bad because, despite attempts to distance the party from Trump after the Capitol riot, those efforts clearly failed and the GOP is saddled with Trump. But mostly, it's bad because it forces them to relive this ugly chapter at a time when, history suggests, their chances of regaining control of Congress in the 2022 election look increasingly good. It's a time in which focusing on pretty much anything else would be better."

According to Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Democrats will force a vote on the bill to establish the commission later next week — potentially setting up the first formal Senate filibuster of the Biden presidency.

Read the full report here.