Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in Kentucky Tuesday it’s not necessary to create a riot commission or to launch a new investigation into the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
“I don’t think anybody is going to get away with anything,” the GOP lawmaker told a reporter. “I think we’ll know everything we need to know.”
This comes after Republicans blocked a House-passed measure last week that would have created a bipartisan and independent commission to investigate the cause of the riot and the security failures that allowed hundreds of angry protesters to push their way into the Capitol in a quest to block the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory.
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Democrats, who control both the House and Senate majorities, are now more likely to create a select congressional committee without the participation of the GOP.
McConnell led the effort to defeat the bipartisan commission, which was blocked by a Republican filibuster in the Senate.
McConnell and most other Republican lawmakers said the commission could be used by Democrats as a political weapon against the GOP ahead of the critical 2022 midterm elections.
Democrats blame then-President Donald Trump, who told protesters the election was rigged in favor of Biden. Trump told the protesters to march to the Capitol and behave peacefully, but Democrats believe he provoked the violent actions of the rioters and did nothing to help end the hourslong riot in the halls of Congress.
Republicans said the commission would simply duplicate ongoing efforts to prosecute rioters and investigate the causes of the incident.
The Justice Department has arrested hundreds of rioters and is still pursuing suspects. The Senate has tasked two committees to investigate the riot and security failures.
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McConnell said senators were also witnesses, fleeing the chamber Jan. 6 as the rioters made their way into the House and the Senate.
“I simply think that the commission is not necessary,” McConnell said.
