Politics
House votes to create January 6 Commission to investigate Capitol riot – but Senate GOP set to scupper ‘biased’ probe
A PROPOSED commission to investigate the Capitol riot has been approved by the House.
The bill setting up the January 6 Commission is now going to the Senate where the GOP is set to oppose what is claims is a biased probe.
Mitch McConnell has said he now opposes the commission[/caption]
Trump supporters gathered outside the Capitol[/caption]
The bill was back by 35 Republicans[/caption]
Trump fanatics stormed the Capitol in a bid stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote for Joe Biden after attending a ‘Stop the Steal’ rally addressed by the former President.
Five people died during the riots and several others were injured.
The bill to passed with 35 Republicans voting with Democrats in support of the commission, defying Trump and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.
Ahead of the vote, Donald Trump slammed the proposal as a “Democrat trap” adding that “hopefully” McCarthy and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell “are listening”.
McConnell initially said he remained open to supporting a commission if changes were made to its structure, but by Wednesday he hardened his opposition.
“After careful consideration, I’ve made a decision to oppose the House Democrats’ slanted and unbalanced proposal for another commission to study the events of January the 6th,” McConnell said.
Trump has called for the riots of summer 2020 to be investigated[/caption]
The rioters inside the Capitol[/caption]
“It’s not at all clear what new facts or additional investigation yet another commission could lay on top of the existing efforts by law enforcement and Congress.”
The Senate is divided 50-50 and at at least 10 Republicans would have to join Democrats for the measure to become law.
“It sounds like they (Republicans) are afraid of the truth, and that’s most unfortunate,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, told reporters.
In a statement ahead of the vote, Trump called for an investigation into Black Lives Matter protests rather than the Capitol Hill riots.
Amid calls for him to testify, Trump has slammed the idea and called for there to be a commission to look at Black Lives Matter protests, though he didn’t refer to the movement directly.
Trump supporters forcing their way into the Capitol[/caption]
“Republicans in the House and Senate should not approve the Democrat trap of the January 6 Commission,” he said.
“It is just more partisan unfairness and unless the murders, riots, and fire bombings in Portland, Minneapolis, Seattle, Chicago, and New York are also going to be studied, this discussion should be ended immediately.
“Republicans must get much tougher and much smarter, and stop being used by the Radical Left. Hopefully, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy are listening!”
But Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski has said she wants Trump to testify to the commission.
“If you put together a commission that is focused on the events of January 6th, I think he’s obviously a very key individual,” she told CNN.
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Other Republicans — like Rep Liz Cheney, who was ousted from her position as the third-ranking Republican recently — seem ready to support the commission as well.
In March, Trump defended the Capitol rioters on Fox News.
While he admitted that they “shouldn’t have done it,” the former president also said his supporters posed “zero threat.”
