GOP-Led J6 Investigation To Be Its Own Committee This Congress
Georgia GOP Representative Barry Loudermilk announced that House Speaker Mike Johnson has assured him his investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol will be “formalized as a new committee.”
This move aligns with the Republicans' broader agenda to continue pursuing investigations initiated in the previous Congress, now that they hold control of Congress and the White House.
Speaking to CNN, Loudermilk explained that details about the new committee are still under discussion. One potential structure involves granting Speaker Johnson greater authority over the composition and operations of the panel, which would be established as a “select committee.”
The decision to create a new committee highlights Loudermilk’s prior work, including a report suggesting that former GOP Representative Liz Cheney should be referred to the FBI. This ensures the Republican effort to shield former President Donald Trump from full accountability for the January 6 violence remains at the forefront.
“It was so singularly focused that basically Trump created this entire problem,” Loudermilk said, criticizing the prior January 6 select committee led by Adam Schiff and Liz Cheney. “When in reality, it was a multitude of failures at different levels.”
Johnson has committed to fully funding the new investigation into the Capitol attack.
According to CNN, “Continuing its investigation into the previous January 6 select committee – which featured Cheney as a vice chair and had another Republican member – and broader security response to the Capitol attack is not the only way Republicans plan to use their new majority to carry over their previous investigations that remain politically charged.”
The report further stated that Republicans have renewed subpoenas related to Special Counsel Robert Hur’s probe into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents. They also reissued subpoenas for two Justice Department tax investigators involved in the Hunter Biden case, reviving unresolved legal disputes carried over from the prior Congress.
Meanwhile, California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff addressed the January 6 committee’s work and reports about a potential pardon from President Joe Biden for himself, Cheney, and other members of the committee.
Schiff told CNN that he opposes Biden setting a “precedent” by issuing preemptive pardons.
“It would be the wrong precedent to set. I don’t want to see each president hereafter on their way out the door giving out a broad category of pardons,” Schiff said in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash.
When pressed about a narrower, more targeted pardon, Schiff expressed pride in the committee’s work: “Those of us that were on the Jan. 6 committee who [President-elect Trump] has put in the crosshairs, we’re all enormously proud of the work that we did. We stand by it. We feel we have the protection of the Speech and Debate Clause.”
However, Schiff stopped short of explicitly rejecting a pardon if offered, saying, “I’m urging that he not go down that road.”
Some Democrats have suggested that before leaving office, Biden should pardon individuals who might face retaliation from a future Trump administration.
Schiff acknowledged this concern, stating, “We’re back in this conundrum again, where a Democratic president can do things for a very good reason, a laudable reason, a legitimate reason — in this case, that people are being threatened improperly by an incoming president — but then that precedent can be abused.”