Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said a new report issued by a Senate panel on the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol left out critical information on the cause of the melee.
“The report did not investigate and report on, or hardly make any reference to the actual cause the actual impetus for the attack on January the sixth,” the New York Democrat said. “Senate Republicans insisted that the report exclude anything having to do with the cause of the insurrection.”
Democrats contend former President Donald Trump incited the riot by declaring the November election was rigged in President Joe Biden’s favor.
Republicans blocked legislation last month that would have created an independent, bipartisan commission to examine the riot, including the cause.
Schumer said he may bring up the measure for another vote even though it would likely be blocked a second time by GOP lawmakers, who say the panel could be politically weaponized by Democrats ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
Two Senate committees early Tuesday issued a joint report on the riot that focused on the breach of Capitol security that allowed hundreds of angry and violent pro-Trump protesters to barge into the Capitol, many of them in pursuit of lawmakers.
Schumer suggested the report should have focused more on Trump’s role in inciting the riot.
“If anything, the joint report by the Homeland Security and rules committees has strengthened the argument for the independent commission,” Schumer said.
But Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, declared the opposite in a floor speech following Schumer’s remarks.
McConnell argued the commission envisioned by Democrats would politicize the investigation rather than providing important information needed to bolster security and prevent a repeat of Jan. 6.
McConnell said the report identified shortcomings and gaps in Capitol security that the rioters were able to exploit in order to gain entry to the campus and into the building.
“Today’s report is one of the many reasons I’m confident in the ability of existing investigations to uncover all actionable facts about the events of Jan. 6,” McConnell said. “I’ll continue to support these efforts over any that seek to politicize the process. And I would urge my colleagues to do the same.”
