The House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, said on Tuesday he opposes a proposal to form an independent and bipartisan commission to investigate the deadly Capitol attack of 6 January.
McCarthy’s opposition will erode Republican support ahead of a vote this week. Democrats control the House but McCarthy’s opposition could dim the chances of legislation to establish the commission in the evenly divided Senate.
In a statement, McCarthy accused the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, of negotiating in bad faith and “playing political games”.
He said: “Given the political misdirections that have marred this process, given the now duplicative and potentially counterproductive nature of this effort, and given the speaker’s shortsighted scope that does not examine interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation.”
McCarthy has long said the commission should also investigate leftwing groups that protested against police violence after the murder of George Floyd.
Pelosi flatly rejected that approach, seeking to focus the panel on 6 January and form it along the lines of the bipartisan and independent 9/11 commission, which investigated the terror attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and John Katko of New York, the top Democrat and Republican on the House homeland security committee, reached a compromise last week.
The commission would be split evenly between Democratic and Republican appointees, none of them serving government officials, with agreement needed for subpoenas to be issued.
Supporters of Donald Trump breached the Capitol in service of his lie that the election was subject to mass fraud and in an attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory. Some rioters looked for lawmakers including the then vice-president, Mike Pence, to capture and possibly kill. More than 400 have been charged.
McCarthy said he supported that federal effort to hold attackers accountable but claimed the proposed commission could interfere with such work.
Liz Cheney, the Wyoming representative ejected from Republican leadership over her opposition to Trump and attempts to downplay the Capitol riot, has led calls for McCarthy to testify willingly or be compelled to do so regarding his conversation with Trump during the attack.
Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Washington state Republican, has said McCarthy told her that when he asked the president to call his supporters off, Trump replied: “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.”
In a recent interview on Fox News, McCarthy avoided questions about Beutler’s statement – but did not deny it.
Cheney told ABC last week: “I would hope he doesn’t require a subpoena, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he were subpoenaed.”
But McCarthy has thrown his support behind Trump, whose domination of the Republican party is almost complete despite his two impeachments – the second for inciting the insurrection at the Capitol – and his conclusive electoral defeat.
Capitol police said this month that threats against members of Congress have increased by 107% compared with last year.
In a statement, the agency said: “Provided the unique threat environment we currently live in, the department is confident the number of cases will continue to increase.”
On Friday, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security released a report on domestic terrorism, covering recent years.
In 2019, the agencies said racially motivated violent extremists “likely would continue to be the most lethal” domestic terrorist threat.
This week, members of Congress will also consider a $1.9bn emergency supplemental spending bill to tighten security in and around the Capitol, buy more police equipment and enhance protection for federal judges.
No lawmakers were injured during the 6 January attack but some who were trapped in the upper gallery of the House have received threats against their lives.
Pelosi appointed Russel Honoré, a retired army lieutenant general, to make security recommendations. Honoré proposed hiring more than 800 police officers, constructing mobile fencing around the Capitol and an overhaul of the Capitol police board.
Source: Elections - theguardian.com
