Byron York’s Daily Memo: Why GOP leaders don’t want a Capitol riot commission

Foremost among those reasons is that there are already multiple investigations going on. The riot was a complex event, but there are three main areas to investigate, and each is the subject or has already been the subject, of a formal probe.

The first is the actions of the rioters themselves. That is being covered by a massive Justice Department investigation. Prosecutors have already charged more than 450 people, and most observers expect that number to climb above 500. “Department lawyers have described the sprawling investigation as one of the largest in American history,” reported NBC News last month, “in terms of the number of charges filed and the volume of evidence, which includes more than 15,000 hours of video from surveillance and police body cameras.” It would be hard for anyone to argue that the rioters will somehow escape scrutiny and accountability without a new commission. They’re getting a lot of scrutiny and accountability right now.

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The second area to investigate is Capitol security. What were the warning signs, and the actual, specific warnings, before the riot? What did federal security and law enforcement agencies know about it? How well did the Capitol Police prepare and perform? These issues and others are being investigated right now by a joint probe conducted by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and the Senate Rules & Administration Committee. (Homeland Security has jurisdiction over the security agencies and Rules has jurisdiction over the Capitol Police.)

The committees’ investigation is pretty far along — they are expected to release a preliminary report in a couple of weeks. Republicans say the probes have been conducted in a bipartisan manner, with Democratic Homeland Security chair Senator Gary Peters working with ranking Republican Senator Rob Portman and Democratic Rules chair Senator Amy Klobuchar working with ranking Republican Senator Roy Blunt. It appears that one of the reasons the two sides are working well together is that they have agreed to keep the investigation focused on security issues. They will issue the preliminary report in part to give Congress guidance as it considers a supplemental appropriations bill for the purpose of hardening security at the Capitol.

The third area of inquiry is the accusation that then-President Donald Trump incited the riot. And that has already been investigated and adjudicated in the form of the second Trump impeachment. Granted, it is hard to claim that House Democrats seriously investigated Trump’s actions in their rush to impeach. But Democratic impeachment managers went on to compile an extensive report, including video evidence not previously made public. They made their case before the Senate in a trial that took place after Trump left the presidency. Many observers (including me) argued that such a post-presidential trial was unconstitutional. But it happened. There was nothing to prevent the Democratic-controlled House from investigating more extensively before passing an article of impeachment accusing Trump of incitement, but they chose to act with great speed. The result was Trump’s acquittal in the Senate. Now, of course, if Trump were suspected of committing any crime related to the riot, he could be investigated and prosecuted since he is out of office.

So there already is a Capitol riot investigation — or, more precisely, there are Capitol riot investigations. “There is, there have been, and there will continue to be no shortage of robust organizations by two separate branches of the federal government,” Mitch McConnell said in a floor speech rejecting the proposal for a commission.

But Democrats want more. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi originally wanted a commission in which, unlike the 9/11 commission which Democrats often cite as a model for the new panel, one party — hers — would have a numerical advantage. Pelosi gave up that demand, but Republicans believe Democrats will seek to stretch the investigation’s scope to include the hyper-politicized issue of Trump’s challenges to the 2020 election results. Recently an article in the zealously anti-Trump publication The Bulwark said the commission should investigate “Trump and his allies” and their “all-out media war to cast doubts on the presidential election, complicated by dozens of bogus, losing lawsuits, and conspiracy-laden press appearances by his various lawyers and surrogates.”

It does not take an oracle to see such an investigation becoming hopelessly politicized. And then, Democrats want a timeline that will last through 2022 — that is, through the midterm elections. Already, Democrats across the country are showing signs that they will try to make 2022 all about Trump. A big, election-year investigation would help them do that.

Despite the current GOP leadership’s opposition, it is still possible a commission will happen. On ABC Sunday, moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins said she “strongly supports” a commission and believes two issues that are separating the two parties can be resolved. The first concerns staffing, with Collins advocating both parties should jointly appoint staff. The second problem is timing. “I see no reason why the report cannot be completed by the end of the year,” Collins said. “There’s plenty of time to complete the work.”

Maybe the Collins side will prevail and there will ultimately be a commission. But whatever happens, it is important to remember one last fact: There is nothing stopping House Democrats from starting an investigation of their own. As National Review’s Andrew McCarthy recently noted, “Democrats control the work of Congress’s committees, they have subpoena power, and no one can stop them from narrowly focusing an inquiry on the Capitol riot.” Republicans could urge that the investigation include other acts of political violence, but Democrats do not have to allow it — just as in 2019, when, as McCarthy explained, “[Democrats] ignored pro-Trump Republicans who urged that Biden family activities in Ukraine should be examined contemporaneously with the House impeachment probe of Trump’s pressure on the regime in Kyiv to investigate the Bidens.”

Perhaps Democrats will indeed start their own investigations. But whatever they do, look for Republicans to keep repeating the point: The Capitol riot is already under investigation — investigation in a huge Justice Department probe, in two Senate committees, and in a post-presidential impeachment. That’s a lot of investigating. Will voters in 2022 be hungry for still more?

For a deeper dive into many of the topics covered in the Daily Memo, please listen to my podcast, The Byron York Show — available on the Ricochet Audio Network and everywhere else podcasts can be found. You can use this link to subscribe.