House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday that the House of Representatives will form a select committee to investigate the events of January 6th, 2020, on capitol hill.
“This morning, with great solemnity and sadness, I’m announcing that the House will be establishing a select committee on the Jan. 6 insurrection,” Pelosi announced during her weekly news conference. “The select committee will investigate and report on the facts and the causes of the attack and it will make report recommendations for the prevention of any future attack.”
Having failed to garner the votes to establish a 9/11-style independent commission, Pelosi has decided to go with a partisan approach. Unlike an independent commission, the select committee will be led by Democrats and only Democrats will have subpoena power.
Senate committees are already holding bipartisan investigations, according to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and the FBI is has been investigating the events of January 6th for months. The Justice Department expects to prosecute upwards of 550 people. It is unclear what, other than publicity and spin, Pelosi’s committee would accomplish.
Republican support for the select committee is unlikely as past committee investigations, like the Trump-Russia hoax led by Adam Schiff, quickly devolved into partisan hackery and ultimately produced no useful findings.
