House Republicans are launching their own select subcommittee around the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, part of the broader effort among the GOP to rewrite what happened when rioters stormed the building that day in 2021.
The effort, which will be led by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, has been stalled for months over disagreement around its jurisdiction. But after the White House intervened, Loudermilk was granted power as its chair to issue subpoenas to compel testimony or information, he said.
Although the focus of the probe was not immediately clear, the Georgia Republican told reporters Wednesday that the panel would review security and intelligence failures and request materials that weren’t disclosed by the Democratic-led Jan. 6 committee from the 117th Congress. Judiciary Committee staff already started some of the work, he added.
Loudermilk introduced the resolution establishing the committee Wednesday, just as lawmakers were leaving for their August recess. The House will vote on it when they return to Washington.
“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,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson in a statement. “The resolution introduced today will establish this Select Subcommittee so we can continue our efforts to uncover the full truth that is owed to the American people.
Republicans have long argued that Democratic-led efforts to investigate the failures around Jan. 6 and the GOP campaign to subvert the results of the 2020 election were an unfair attack on Donald Trump. In anticipation of potential retaliation from Trump or his allies, President Joe Biden issued pardons in the final hours of his presidency for lawmakers on the House panel that led the probe.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration launched broad efforts to undo work by the Biden administration in the wake of the Capitol attack. Trump quickly issued broad pardons for those involved, and his Justice Department dismissed prosecutors involved in the investigations.
Loudermilk emphasized that the investigative panel has been a priority for Trump, and the two began speaking about it before he was inaugurated in his second term. Although negotiations with GOP leadership have been in the works since last October, talks around the panel picked up again in earnest last month, Loudermilk said. He told reporters that at a meeting with Trump in June, the president pressed Loudermilk about the reason for the delay and said he had expected the panel to be established earlier this year.
Loudermilk said he expected the breakdown of the panel to be 5 Republicans and 3 Democrats. House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) will be ex officio members, and although assignments have not been finalized, Loudermilk said Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) would serve on the subcommittee.
Raskin also sat on the previous Jan. 6 committee panel.
“[B]y all means, let’s hold more hearings on the horrific violence incited by Trump and brought down against our valiant police officers,” Raskin said in a statement, in wake of the new Jan. 6 panel announcement. “But we’ll have lots of time to compare what Republicans said at the time and in the immediate aftermath of the insurrection versus what they are saying now as returned and penitent sycophants appeasing their delusional and felonious J6 cult leader.”
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