House Republicans conducting their own investigation into the Capitol riot in the shadow of the heavily reported inquiry led by Chairman Bennie Thompson and Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney shed insight into their secretive work on Monday.
Reps. Jim Jordan and Jim Banks, two Republicans who were barred from joining the select Jan. 6 committee by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, made a joint appearance on host Laura Ingraham’s Fox News show to discuss their inquiry about which they have released few details up until now.
Jordan called on Pelosi to sanction the release of documents related to the violence on Jan. 6, 2020, outlined in a new letter from House Administration Committee ranking member Rodney Davis that said the House sergeant-at-arms and the House chief administrative officer, who answer to the speaker, have not produced records requested by Republicans that could shed light on the security at the Capitol that day.
“You have conflicting testimony from that time period,” Jordan said. “The Capitol Hill police has said that they asked for the National Guard to be present Jan. 6. The sergeant of arms has said, ‘No, you didn’t.’ One guy says, ‘We asked for it.’ The other guy says, ‘We didn’t.’ The guy who says, ‘We didn’t,’ reports directly to the speaker and won’t turn over the documents. The guy who said we did ask for the National Guard — they have given us the information.”
A must-read letter to @SpeakerPelosi from Ranking Member @RodneyDavis ahead of 1/6. Still many unanswered questions from her office and why the House SAA & CAO continue to stonewall Republican requests for documents and records related to 1/6. pic.twitter.com/VOdSIA9nQk
— House Admin. Committee GOP (@HouseAdmnGOP) January 3, 2022
Banks, an Indiana Republican, announced early last month that at the direction of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, GOP members were working on their own counterinvestigation and expected to release a report. “I can’t go into many of the specifics of what we’ve done or what we are doing,” Banks said at the time. “But I will tell you that we will be releasing our findings publicly in the future.”
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But Banks offered some new information to Ingraham on Monday, saying House Republicans are still in the process of interviewing Capitol Police officers and others.
Banks also voiced support for former President Donald Trump scheduling a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 6, in which he is expected to talk about the Capitol riot.
“President Trump has important things to say,” Banks said.
Pelosi, a California Democrat, also has announced a schedule of events for lawmakers, including a prayer vigil, to mark the one-year anniversary of the riot on Thursday. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are also expected to deliver remarks on Thursday.
The select Jan. 6 committee has asked Jordan, an Ohio Republican, along with GOP Rep. Scott Perry, to answer questions from investigators on the panel. With Perry saying he will refuse to cooperate while Jordan so far saying only that he has to review the request, subpoenas are said to be in consideration.
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Banks and Jordan argue the Jan. 6 panel, which has two GOP members in Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom are anti-Trump, is being used as a political weapon against the former president and his allies. In fact, Thompson has signaled the panel is prepared to make criminal referrals to the Justice Department about Trump if sufficient evidence of suspected wrongdoing is found.
“The American people see it for what it is. So we have to make sure we get the truth out, as Jim Banks said, about what really happened — what should have been in place that day to protect the Capitol,” Jordan said.
