Jan. 6 Committee Releases Final Report – All 845 Pages
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The Jan. 6 House select committee released its final report on its investigation into the 2021 Capitol insurrection on Thursday night.
Clocking in at 845 pages, the report provides exhausting testimony and evidence about the storming of the Capitol by a mob of Donald Trump supporters who believed the 2020 election was stolen from him. The rioters succeeded in delaying certification of the election for several hours. Four people died in the fracas. A day later, a 42-year-old Capitol police officer died after he was sprayed with an unknown substance at the riot.
Trump had spent two months falsely alleging the election was rigged, gradually riling up his base of support. On Jan. 6, 2021 Trump held a rally at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. Addressing attendees, he urged them to march to the Capitol to “show strength.” During his speech, he reiterated the false claim that Vice President Mike Pence – as the presiding officer over the election’s certification – had the power to reject the results.
After Pence declined to try anything of the sort, Trump’s supporters chanted, “Hang Mike Pence!” as a gallows loomed outside.
Originally, Democrats and some Republicans aimed to create an independent commission – separate from Congress – to investigate the attack. The House approved such a panel in May 2021 by a vote of 252-175, with 35 Republicans voting in favor. However, the measure stalled in the Senate after it failed to garner the necessary 60 votes to advance. The vote was 54-35 in support of the commission.
In response, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced the creation of a select committee to probe the insurrection. She invited Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to select members from his conference to serve on the bipartisan panel.
But Pelosi rejected two of McCarthy’s five picks: Reps. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Jim Jordan (R-OH). Jordan, a staunch ally of Trump, would end up being subpoenaed by the committee.
The rejections prompted McCarthy to withdraw all five of his selections.
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi has taken the unprecedented step of denying the minority party’s picks for the Select Committee on January 6,” McCarthy said at the time. “This represents an egregious abuse of power and will irreparably damage this institution.”
Democrats forged ahead with the creation of the committee, which included two Republicans: Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), who were outspoken critics of Trump after the insurrection.
The committee wrapped up its work less than two weeks before Republicans take control of the House after gaining enough seats in the midterms.
