Republicans are countering Democrats’ focus on commemorating the anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol by pointing to security risks and alleging negligence by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Illinois Republican Rep. Rodney Davis, ranking member on the Committee on House Administration, sent a memo to colleagues on Monday that asserted the Capitol is less prepared for an attack than it was a year ago. Most of the security recommendations from a task force that Pelosi commissioned after Jan. 6, as well as most of those from a Capitol Police inspector general, have not been implemented, it said.
“Frankly, our police officers, I believe, are actually in a worse position today than they were on January 6, and it’s directly because of the inaction of Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats,” Davis said on a press call on Monday, saying Pelosi is more interested in the “political” select committee formed to investigate the Jan. 6 attack than in implementing changes.
Davis said that the House sergeant-at-arms and chief administrative officer, both of which are under the control of Pelosi, refused to comply with document preservation and production requests from Republicans even though the Capitol Police and other entities cooperated.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS OFFER INSIGHT INTO SECRETIVE CAPITOL RIOT INVESTIGATION
“I believe that those records will show that … there was a lot of communication and coordination between the Speaker’s office and law enforcement officials leading up to and on January 6,” Davis said.
Davis on Monday sent a letter to Pelosi’s office again requesting information about her communications leading up to and on Jan. 6, adding: “I demand that you direct all House officers immediately to stop obstructing our oversight.”
He promised to exercise subpoena power to get those communications if Republicans win back the majority in 2022, threatening “criminal referrals” if the communications are destroyed.
Pelosi’s office has repeatedly denied that she had any previous conversations with the House sergeant-at-arms about beefing up security for Jan. 6. Capitol security is not only the responsibility of the speaker. The Senate sergeant-at-arms, who was controlled by then-Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, also has a role, and much of the responsibility is delegated to the Capitol Police.
Davis was one of the Republicans House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy originally appointed to sit on the Jan. 6 select committee before Pelosi’s veto of Indiana Rep. Jim Banks and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan prompted him to pull all of his picks.
Since then, those members have quietly been conducting a counterinvestigation into Jan. 6 and hope to publish their own report.
Banks on Monday revealed new details about that effort, including that it has interviewed Capitol Police officers and others who had a role in security.
“We keep hearing a repeated theme,” Banks said: “Policy and personnel changes that occurred in November, specifically related to intelligence — the intelligence division of the U.S. Capitol Police and how intelligence is gathered and disseminated.”
Democrats planned a number of events to commemorate the Jan. 6 anniversary, including members sharing testimonials, a moderated discussion, and a prayer vigil. CNN will air a live special in the evening from inside the Capitol, featuring police officers who fought the mob and members of the House select committee formed to investigate the riot.
It has also pushed Democrats, whose sweeping Build Back Better legislation is stalled due to objections from West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, to renew a focus on voting legislation. And it brings further focus to the Jan. 6 House Select Committee. An interim report is expected from the committee this summer, the Washington Post reported.
The Jan. 6 anniversary also focuses attention on what the select committee might uncover. Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, one of the two Republicans on the committee appointed by Pelosi, has raised the possibility of criminal penalties for Trump. Cheney was ousted from her No. 3 leadership spot in the conference now held by Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York after she became very critical of Trump in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot.
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If successful in their messaging, House Republicans may turn the media narrative around the anniversary away from Trump and increase scrutiny on Pelosi.
“The January 6 committee has altered documents and lied to the American people, but somehow they say President Trump is a threat to democracy,” Jordan said, referring to a text message that he sent former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that the committee revealed and misrepresented. The committee, he said, is “designed to cover up the actions of this Speaker.”
“The only office that is off-limits to this partisan sham investigation is Speaker Pelosi’s office. This is a political weapon, and it’s used to cover up for Nancy Pelosi his failures,” Stefanik said.
