House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that the US Congress intends to set up an external, independent commission to investigate the “facts and causes” associated with the deadly January 6 uprising at the US Capitol. by reviewing supporters of Donald Trump in the waning context days of his presidency.
Pelosi said in a letter to members of Congress that the commission would be based on a similar one convened after the terrorist attacks on Washington and New York on September 11, 2001.
Legislation is expected to be needed to set up such an institution if it looks like the commission that reviewed the 9/11 crisis.
Democratic and Republican lawmakers have called for a 9/11-style dual commission to investigate why government officials and law enforcers could not stop the attack on the Capitol while both chambers of Congress were certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the election.
The calls follow Trump’s acquittal in his second indictment, in which he is accused of inciting the uprising after stoking his supporters with warnings about the election result and a riot on the day itself, outside the White House. , to try to overthrow. he urged angry supporters to march to the Capitol.
Pelosi said Monday the panel will also look at the “facts and causes” behind the catastrophe in which five people died on January 6, including a police officer, many were injured and two police officers were killed by suicide in the days that followed.
On Sunday, both parties were asked again for such a commission.
“We need a 9/11 commission to find out what happened and to make sure it never happens again, and I want to make sure the Capitol footprint can be better defended next time,” Lindsey said. Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, said. includes Trump ally who voted Saturday to acquit the former president. “His behavior after the election was on top of that,” Graham told Fox News Sunday about the former president.
Delaware Democrat Chris Coons agreed. Speaking to ABC this week, he said a two-party commission “would ensure that we secure the Capitol going forward and that we expose the record for how responsible and how violating his constitutional oath Trump really was.”
Pelosi’s statement on Monday referred to a review led by retired U.S. Army general Russel Honoré.
Pelosi said: “Over the past few weeks, General Honoré has assessed our security needs by looking at what happened on January 6 and how we should ensure that it does not happen again … It is clear from his findings and from the indictment that we must come to the truth how it happened. ”
She continues: ‘Our next step will be to set up an external, independent 9/11 type commission that will’ investigate and report on the facts and causes of the domestic terrorist attack on the US Capitol complex on January 6, 2021. do … and related to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power, including facts and causes regarding the readiness and response of the U.S. Capitol Police and other federal, state, and local law enforcement officers in the National Capitol Region. ”
More than a month after the attack, the Capitol complex is still guarded by more than 5,000 national guards and surrounded by eight-foot fences surrounded by razor wire. The troops are expected to remain in mid-March.
Last month, the U.S. chief of Capitol police urged lawmakers to add permanent fencing and backup security, noting that the installation of a permanent perimeter fence around the Capitol in 2006 is recommended.
But many members of Congress and Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser have urged congressional leaders not to adopt permanent fencing or military security.
More than 200 people have been charged with federal crimes in the bloody assault on Congress and a major investigation continues.
Four House Republicans wrote to Pelosi on Monday, complaining that their party had not been consulted about Honoré’s review and also demanded answers about her knowledge and instructions before the uprising, including whether she was involved in delaying the deployment of the national wait, a complaint from Pelosi. according to several reports dismissed.