The partisan January 6 Committee’s report published Thursday ignored House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) role in the failure to provide enhanced Capitol security before the protest.
Instead, the Committee’s report attempted to place the blame for the riot squarely on former President Donald Trump.
“Trump sat in the dining room off the Oval Office watching the violent riot at the Capitol,” outgoing Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) wrote in the report, ignoring the days and events leading up to January 6.
“During this time, law enforcement agents were attacked and seriously injured, the Capitol was invaded, the electoral count was halted and the lives of those in the Capitol were put at risk,” Cheney continued. “In addition to being unlawful, as described in this report, this was an utter moral failure—and a clear dereliction of duty.”
Not all Republicans agree with Cheney’s claims. She lost her Republican primary in August by nearly 40 points after participating on the January 6 Committee.
On Wednesday, House Republicans released their own report, which shed light on how the Capitol’s security was left vulnerable to massive crowds. The report found Democrat House leadership and law enforcement leaders in the Capitol Police were quite worried about the “optics” of any enhanced Capitol security before the protest.
“Leadership and law enforcement failures within the U.S. Capitol left the complex vulnerable on January 6, 2021. The Democrat-led investigation in the House of Representatives, however, has disregarded those institutional failings that exposed the Capitol to violence that day,” the Republicans wrote.
The Republicans’ report also stated the Capitol Police were made aware of security threats to the Capitol on January 6 dating back to mid-December.
“Prior to that day, the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) had obtained sufficient information from an array of channels to anticipate and prepare for the violence that occurred,” the report said.
The Republican report was crafted by Reps. Jim Banks (R-IN), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Troy Nehls (R-TX), and Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) — all members whom Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had appointed to the January 6 Committee, but some of whom Pelosi denied participation, such as Jordan and Banks. McCarthy later removed all the appointees in protest of Pelosi’s decision to block Jordan and Banks.
Banks believes the report serves as evidence of Pelosi’s “leading role” in the Capitol’s security failures.
“Our report exposes the partisanship, incompetence and indifference that led to the disaster on January 6 and the leading role Speaker Pelosi and her office played in the security failure at the Capitol,” Banks told Just the News. “Unlike the sham January 6th Committee, House Republicans produced a useful report that will keep Capitol and USCP officers safe with no subpoena power and no budget.”
In the January 6 Committee’s report, Pelosi appeared to reject any responsibility for the lack of Capitol security.
Pelosi stated the partisan committee “succeeded in bringing clarity” to the riot by “investigating the facts, circumstances and causes that led to this domestic terror attack on the Capitol.”
“We owe a debt of gratitude to Chairman Bennie Thompson, Vice Chair Liz Cheney, the patriotic Members of Congress and dedicated staff—who devoted themselves to this investigation, to uncovering the truth and to writing a report that is a ‘Roadmap for Justice,’” Pelosi concluded.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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