‘Embarrassing’: Republicans under fire over latest attempt to rewrite history
WASHINGTON — A top House Republican’s attempt to revive questions about Jan. 6 security failures triggered a fiery backlash from Democrats, who called the effort “embarrassing” and accused the GOP of rewriting history.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, who chairs the new GOP Select Subcommittee on the Jan. 6 attack, suggested federal agencies had advance warning of violence ahead of the deadly Capitol attack, insisting, “there’s no way they could miss that.”
“There was intelligence from both groups on the left and the right,” Loudermilk told Raw Story on Friday. "Why wasn't something done? Was it incompetency? I can't believe that it's that level of incompetency across several agencies.”
He also raised fresh doubts about decisions to hold back the National Guard, warning that unresolved failures could leave the Capitol vulnerable again.
“My concern all along is if there was a security failure, it could happen again,” Loudermilk said.
He also blamed former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and her staff for the lapse.
“More than likely, I think it probably was her staff,” he added.
But Democrats weren’t having it.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) blasted Loudermilk’s line of attack as “embarrassing,” and accused Republicans of ignoring the root cause of the riot.
“What happened was that Trump incited a mob and asked them to come and attack the Capitol violently,” the lawmaker and member of the original January 6 House committee, told Raw Story.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), who led the original Jan. 6 investigation, also knocked the renewed GOP-led effort, noting that Republicans had previously resisted cooperating with earlier probes.
“The Senate didn’t cooperate with the initial thing we tried to put together,” Thompson said. He added that the report generated from the original January 6 committee, “along with the supporting documentation, is clear.”
“We stand by the report,” he said, before adding a parting shot to the new GOP effort: “All of a sudden, they got amnesia as to what was going on that day.”