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US Capitol attackPelosi wants ‘Americans to know the truth’ of the Capitol attack – but will we ever really know? Speaker is locked in a battle of wills with Kevin McCarthy who is determined to change the political conversation, critics sayDavid Smith in Washington@ More
First ThingUS newsFirst Thing: Kevin McCarthy pulls GOP appointees from Capitol attack panelThe minority leader accuses Nancy Pelosi of ‘playing politics’ after she rejected two of his choices for the investigation
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Vivian HoThu 22 Jul 2021 06.14 EDTLast modified on Thu 22 Jul 2021 07.23 EDTGood morning.The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, yesterday rejected two of the minority leader Kevin McCarthy’s appointments for the House select committee tasked with investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol.After learning of Pelosi’s veto of his choices, Jim Jordan and Jim Banks, McCarthy withdrew all five of his appointments. He called the move an “egregious abuse of power” that would “irreparably damage this institution”.
Jordan and Banks had voted in support of the baseless objections to the certification of the presidential election on 6 January, raising questions of a conflict of interest – many people who stormed the Capitol that day said they did so because they believed the election was stolen.
Pelosi, however, said how someone voted on 6 January did not disqualify them from serving on the committee, and did not object to the appointment of Troy Nehls, who also voted in support. She rejected their appointment because of their remarks disparaging the inquiry and their ties to Donald Trump, she said.
The Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, who was previously appointed to the panel by Pelosi, called McCarthy’s actions “despicable and disgraceful”. “At every turn the minority leader has tried to get the people not to know what happened [on 6 January],” she said.
Biden: children under 12 could soon be eligible for Covid vaccineJoe Biden went on a televised CNN-hosted town hall in Cincinnati to say that children under 12, who are currently ineligible for the three coronavirus vaccines available in the US, could get shots by August or later in the fall.Covid-19 cases have nearly tripled in the US in the past two weeks, with the Delta variant sweeping through unvaccinated communities. Only 56.2% of Americans have had at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the CDC.Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty in LA trialHarvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood producer and convicted rapist serving a 23-year prison term in New York, pleaded not guilty yesterday in a Los Angeles courtroom to four counts of rape and seven other sexual assault counts.His charges pertain to alleged attacks involving five women spanning 2004 to 2013, some taking place during Oscars week, in the hotels in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles that the New York-based Weinstein would make his headquarters for Hollywood business.Uber and Lyft drivers join daylong strikeAcross the country, hundreds of Uber and Lyft drivers went on strike alongside other app-based workers, calling for better wages and congressional support of the Pro Act, a bill that would provide protections for workers who attempt to join unions.In other news …
At least 33 people have died in China’s deadly floods, raising questions about the readiness of authorities for the disaster.
Republican lawmakers’ attempt to limit the powers of local health departments across more than a dozen states is likely to lead to “preventable tragedies” during disease outbreaks, including the Covid-19 pandemic, experts say.
Alaska’s assistant attorney general has posted antisemitic and homophobic messages on social media as a supporter of the Mormon-derived extremist group the Deseret nationalists, the Guardian has found.
The US women’s soccer team lost to Sweden, 3-0, in the Olympic opener, but their Olympics are far from over.
A California couple was criminally charged for their alleged role in sparking a deadly wildfire with their gender-reveal party last year.
Stat of the dayA consumer could reduce emissions by up to 55% by choosing an airline ticket from within the cheapest 25% of fares. A new study found that people can reduce their carbon emissions while flying by choosing carbon-friendly routes when buying airline tickets.Don’t miss this: the politicization of griefFamilies who lost their loved ones to gun violence found their losses weaponized in the debate over defunding police.Climate check: the loss of a climate refugeThe recent heatwave that swept across the west, melting power cables and cracking roads, has shattered the dream of the Pacific north-west as a temperate haven in a world ravaged by the climate crisis.Last Thing: keeping tab(bie)sIn Britain, most pet cats are free to roam, leaving their owners’ minds roaming for far too often on where they have gone. The Guardian fitted six cats – Larry, Pablo, Bluebell, Marina, Zaki and Pisi – with GPS trackers to determine what they got up to for a week.Sign upSign up for the US morning briefingFirst Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you are not already signed up, subscribe now.Get in TouchIf you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.comTopicsUS newsFirst ThingNancy PelosiUS politicsnewsReuse this content More
US Capitol attackPelosi rejects two Republicans from Capitol attack committeeHouse minority leader Kevin McCarthy calls move ‘abuse of power’ and threatens to withdraw Republicans from inquiry Hugo Lowell in WashingtonWed 21 Jul 2021 17.38 EDTLast modified on Wed 21 Jul 2021 17.42 EDTThe House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, announced on Wednesday that she would veto the two top Republican appointments to the new House select committee investigating the Capitol attack, saying the Trump-allied congressmen could threaten the integrity of the investigation.But the move sparked the immediate prospect of a boycott from the other Republicans picked by their party to serve on the committee and a threat that they would set up their own inquiry of the events of 6 January.Capitol attack committee chair vows to investigate Trump: ‘Nothing is off limits’Read moreThe top Democrat in the House said in a statement that she was rejecting Republicans Jim Banks and Jim Jordan from the panel because of their remarks disparaging the inquiry and their ties to Donald Trump, who will be the subject of the select committee’s investigation.Pelosi said her move was an unprecedented but necessary step given the gravity of the select committee’s inquiry into 6 January, when supporters of the former president stormed the Capitol in a violent insurrection that left five people dead and nearly 140 injured.“I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the select committee,” Pelosi said. “The unprecedented nature of January 6 demands this unprecedented decision.”The move also demonstrated Pelosi’s far-reaching and unilateral authority to steer the direction of the investigation. Pelosi made her decision after deliberating with her leadership team and her picks for the panel, according to a source familiar with the matter.The Republican House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, had included Banks and Jordan – both outspoken Trump allies who voted against certifying Joe Biden’s election victory – among his picks on Monday, foreshadowing a bitter partisan fight over the direction of the inquiry.The top Republican in the House slammed her move as an “egregious abuse of power” that would “irreparably damage this institution”, and threatened to withdraw Republicans from the investigation unless Pelosi reversed course and installed all five appointments.“This panel has lost all legitimacy and credibility and shows the speaker is more interested in playing politics than seeking the truth,” McCarthy said. “Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts.”Still, Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the one Republican member picked by Pelosi to serve on the select committee after she castigated Jordan on the House floor on 6 January, blaming him for the attack, told reporters that she supported Pelosi’s decision.“I agree with what the speaker has done,” she said.The decision by Pelosi to block the pair from serving on the select committee came after a series of calls between Pelosi, her leadership team and the Democratic caucus on Tuesday morning, the source said.House Democrats were outraged with Banks’s appointment in part because of a statement released on Monday night in which he inexplicably blamed the Biden administration for its response to the 6 January attack, which took place during the Trump administration, the source said.Banks also drew the ire of Pelosi and House Democrats after he arranged a trip for House Republicans to join Trump at a recent event at the southern border alongside an individual who participated in the Capitol attack itself.Pelosi also expressed deep concern about the selection of Jordan, the source said, especially given he may have spoken to Trump as rioters stormed the Capitol and disparaged attempts to investigate the deadliest attack on the Capitol since the war of 1812.The chairman of the select committee, Bennie Thompson, previously told the Guardian that any conversations that involved Trump on 6 January would be investigated by the panel, raising the prospect that Jordan would end up examining his own conduct.TopicsUS Capitol attackNancy PelosiHouse of RepresentativesUS politicsRepublicansDemocratsnewsReuse this content More
DemocratsBiden heads to Capitol Hill to boost Democrats’ ‘human infrastructure’ planPresident joins Senate Democrats for lunch a day after Schumer announces agreement on spending proposal Joan E Greve in Washington and agencies@ More
US politicsCapitol attack: what Pelosi’s select committee is likely to investigateThe body created by the speaker will have a broad mandate to examine the facts, circumstances and causes of the Capitol attack Hugo Lowell in WashingtonMon 5 Jul 2021 05.00 EDTLast modified on Mon 5 Jul 2021 05.30 EDTNancy Pelosi’s creation of a House select committee to investigate the 6 January insurrection reopens the possibility of a comprehensive inquiry into myriad security failures and the causes of the deadly attack on Congress by a pro-Trump mob.Nancy Pelosi signals hard line on formation of 6 January select committeeRead moreThe committee will have subpoena power and a broad mandate to examine the facts, circumstances and causes of the Capitol attack against the seat of modern American democracy.The move comes after Senate Republicans blocked the creation of a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Capitol attack, fearful of scrutiny that could tarnish their party ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.Now, six months after the attack, here are the key issues that the committee may look at:What were Trump and members of his administration doing during the attack?At some point after he delivered his incendiary speech to thousands of supporters opposite the White House, the former president watched TV coverage of the unfolding insurrection from the Oval Office.Trump also knew that the rioters had breached the Capitol since he was told in real time over the phone by Republican senator Tommy Tuberville that his colleagues were being evacuated from the chamber.Yet the former president appeared to do nothing to call off the rioters – almost exclusively his own supporters. Nor did he act later when he was begged to do so by House minority leader Kevin McCarthy.In conflicting accounts, Trump later claimed he called in the national guard, but his acting defense secretary Christopher Miller later testified that he never spoke to the former president during the entire day.Why were police and US intelligence agencies so unprepared?At a Senate hearing in the weeks after the insurrection, the former US Capitol police chief Steven Sund, former House sergeant-at-arms Paul Irving, and his Senate counterpart, Michael Stenger, deflected and laid the blame at each other.The convoluted accounts of the three top officials illustrated the chaos of the day as well as the difficulty of now untangling testimony, which differed from police chief to police chief, as they sought to quell the riot.The officials also blamed the FBI and the US intelligence community for failing to provide adequate warnings that rioters planned to seize the Capitol, and criticized the Pentagon for moving too slowly to authorize the national guard.Yet the initial part of their complaints was contradicted by revelations that an FBI field office in Virginia issued an explicit warning that extremists were preparing to travel to Washington to commit violence a day before 6 January.Why did it take hours for the national guard to be deployed?The commander of the DC national guard at the time, Maj Gen William Walker, has said that he did not receive approval to mobilize troops until more than three hours after he first made the request.Defense department and Capitol security officials have given conflicting statements to explain the delay as well as an unusually restrictive command policy that appeared to come directly from the Trump White House.Walker said he was unable to move troops even from one traffic stop to another without permission from then army secretary Ryan McCarthy, he testified.He added he was uncertain why the restrictions were in place specifically, but raised the prospect that “army senior leaders did not think it looked good” and sending troops in to subdue Trump supporters would not be a “good optic”.Was there any coordination between Trump White House officials, Republican lawmakers and the rioters?An organizer of the “Stop the Steal” rally, Jim Arroyo, who also leads the Arizona chapter of the rightwing Oath Keepers militia group, has previously said that three members of Congress “schemed up” the events of 6 January with him.House Republican and longtime Trump ally Paul Gosar was certainly among the lawmakers who participated in the rally that immediately preceded the Capitol attack, though he has denied any involvement with the insurrection.The DoJ is also investigating whether a number of House Republicans provided tours of the Capitol and other information about the Capitol complex to people who might have gone on to be part of the Trump mob.TopicsUS politicsUS Capitol attackDonald TrumpNancy PelosinewsReuse this content More
Nancy Pelosi is poised to take a hard line should Republicans try to derail her recently announced select committee into the 6 January Capitol attack and she may appoint its members at her sole discretion, according to a source familiar with the matter.The committee, which passed the House in a near-party-line vote on Wednesday, will have eight members appointed by Democrats and four members appointed by Republicans, as well as broad subpoena power and no deadline to complete its work.“We have the duty, to the constitution and the country, to find the truth of the January 6th insurrection and to ensure that such an assault on our Democracy cannot happen again,” the House speaker wrote in a letter to colleagues.But, deeply distrustful of the GOP, Pelosi is prepared to veto any Republican member and is considering not allowing any Republican who objected to the certification of Joe Biden’s election win to serve on the select committee, the source said.The thinly veiled warning being sent behind the scenes to the Republican House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, reflects Pelosi’s resolve to investigate the root causes of the Capitol attack that left five dead and scores more injured and shocked many Americans.It also underscored Pelosi’s far-reaching power over the select committee in the Democratic-controlled House and her ability to shape the contours of an investigation that could continue through the midterm elections in 2022 and give Democrats a powerful tool to hit Republicans with.The speaker remains acutely aware of how Republicans, in a stark display of loyalty to Trump and self-interest to shield themselves from an inquiry that could tarnish their party, blocked the creation of a 9/11-style commission into the Capitol attack.Pelosi has expressed in private that she will not allow the select committee to be derailed, the source said, and could block the appointment of extremist Republicans such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, who refused to accept Biden’s win.An additional concern raised by some Democrats, but not Pelosi herself, revolves around how to approach conflict of interest situations with Republicans who might be named to the select committee but also be connected to events on or before 6 January.McCarthy is likely to be deposed by the select committee himself over his phone call to Trump as the insurrection unfolded. McCarthy begged Trump to call off the rioters, only for the former president to side with his supporters.The top Republican on the House judiciary committee, Jim Jordan – a likely pick by McCarthy for the select committee – also appeared to suggest in recent months that he spoke with Trump during the insurrection.Such conversations between Trump and top House Republicans are significant as they address the crucial question of what Trump was doing and saying as the Capitol was overrun, and will almost certainly be of central importance to the committee’s investigation.The deliberations over whether to take that kind of aggressive move – which would in effect see Pelosi unilaterally decide appointments to the select committee – come as the speaker prepares to decide on a chair and her other Democratic members.Among the leading contenders to lead the committee is the House homeland security committee chair, Bennie Thompson, who negotiated the framework of the aborted 9/11-style commission into 6 January, and has the backing of the House majority whip, Jim Clyburn.As for the other Democratic appointments, members of Pelosi’s leadership and whip teams are not expecting the speaker to name any managers from Trump’s second impeachment trial to the committee, with the possible exception of congressman Jamie Raskin, the source said.The fraught situation surrounding the select committee, which would hand Democrats sweeping power to issue subpoenas for witnesses and documents that could reveal new information about the Capitol attack, is indicative of a highly partisan dynamic on Capitol Hill.The bill to create the select committee became a lightning rod for Republicans after the framework mirrored the language the GOP used for the 2014 select committee to investigate the attack on a US compound in Benghazi, Libya.Pelosi has reiterated the 6 January select committee will examine the root causes of the Capitol attack, though for months, Republicans have argued Democrats are fixated on 6 as a way of tarnishing Trump and their party.Pelosi moved to create a special House select committee – among the top weapons for congressional oversight – after Senate Republicans blocked the commission, fearful that a close accounting of the Capitol attack could pose an existential threat to the GOP.The speaker maintained that she preferred an independent inquiry modeled on the commission set up after the September 11 terrorist attacks. But with Republicans opposed and downplaying the riot, she eventually conceded that only a select committee was possible.“It is imperative that we seek the truth,” Pelosi said. “It is clear the Republicans are afraid of the truth.”Several investigations into the Capitol attack are already under way across the justice department and Capitol Hill, but they have lacked a mandate to conduct a forensic examination of both the circumstances and causes of the assault. More
A select committee to investigate the 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol will have 13 members and the power to subpoena witnesses, according to legislation released by the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. The House is expected to vote on the bill this week.Senate Republicans blocked an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate the attack in which hundreds of Donald Trump’s supporters broke into the Capitol and interrupted certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.The new House panel will have eight members appointed by Pelosi and five appointed “after consultation with” the Republican minority leader, Kevin McCarthy. A Pelosi aide said the speaker was considering including a Republican among her appointments, which would bring the split to 7-6.Pelosi said 6 January was “one of the darkest days in our nation’s history”.“The select committee will investigate and report upon the facts and causes of the attack and report recommendations for preventing any future assault,” she said.Democrats are likely to investigate Trump’s role in the siege and rightwing groups that were present. Almost three dozen House Republicans voted to create an independent panel, which would have had an even partisan split. Seven Republicans in the Senate supported that bill.The new committee will have subpoena power and no end date. It will be able to issue interim reports.Trump is not explicitly referenced in the legislation, which directs the committee to investigate “facts, circumstances and causes relating to the 6 January 2021 domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power”.The panel will also study “influencing factors that fomented such an attack on American democracy while engaged in a constitutional process”.Pelosi has not said who will lead the committee. She has said she is “hopeful there could be a commission at some point”. The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, has said he might hold a second vote on forming the independent body, but there’s no indication any Republican votes have changed.Many Republicans have brushed aside questions about the insurrection, including how government and law enforcement missed intelligence and the role of Trump.One Republican has said the rioters looked like tourists and another insisted a Trump supporter named Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed while trying to break into the House, was “executed”.Two officers who battled rioters, Metropolitan officer Michael Fanone and Capitol officer Harry Dunn, have been lobbying Republicans. They met McCarthy on Friday and said they asked him to denounce comments downplaying the violence.Fanone said he asked McCarthy for a commitment not to put “the wrong people” on the new select committee and that McCarthy said he would take it seriously. McCarthy’s office did not respond to requests for comment.The officers also asked McCarthy to denounce 21 Republicans who voted against giving medals of honor to the Capitol and Metropolitan Police for their service on 6 January. Dozens suffered injuries, including chemical burns, brain injuries and broken bones.McCarthy, who voted for the measure, told them he would deal with those members privately.Seven people died during and after the rioting, including Babbitt and three Trump supporters who died of medical emergencies. Two police officers died by suicide and a third, Brian Sicknick, collapsed and died after engaging with the protesters. A medical examiner determined he died of natural causes. More
Joe Manchin, the conservative Democratic West Virginia senator whose defiance over the filibuster rule threatens to stall Joe Biden’s domestic legislative agenda, found himself under pressure from both wings of his party on Sunday.Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, adopted a conciliatory approach on CNN’s State of the Union show, offering a novel interpretation of Manchin’s assertion a week earlier that he would refuse to support Biden’s flagship For the People voting rights act, or vote to end the filibuster that would allow it to pass.“I don’t give up on Joe Manchin. I think he left the door open, I think it’s ajar [and] I’m not giving up,” she said, offering an olive branch following harsh criticism from other Democrats.“He has certain concerns about the legislation that we may be able to come to terms on. We have to make this fight for our democracy. It isn’t about Democrats or Republicans, it’s not about partisanship, it’s about patriotism so we must pass it.”Later in the same show, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive congresswoman from New York, assailed Manchin for clinging to what she said he saw as “the romanticism of bipartisanship” and an era of Republicanism “that simply does not exist any more”.“We have the influence of big money [donors] that impacts both parties in Congress and I believe that that old way of politics has absolutely an influence in Joe Manchin’s thinking, and the way he navigates the body,” Ocasio-Cortez said.“You have the Koch brothers and associated organizations really doing victory laps about Joe Manchin’s opposition to [ending the] the filibuster.”The contrasting approaches to the Manchin problem underscore the growing rift in the Democratic party. It controls the White House and House of Representatives but appears increasingly unable to progress key elements of Biden’s agenda, including voting rights, a $1.7tn infrastructure plan, racial justice efforts and gun reforms, through the Senate.There, seats are divided 50-50 and the Democrats have a tie-breaking vote in the vice-president, Kamala Harris, but the filibuster rule means the minority party can block much legislation that does not have the support of at least 60 members.Colleagues have urged Manchin to support efforts to end or restructure the Senate filibuster, but he is not in favor.Ocasio-Cortez said Democrats now faced “a fork in the road”.“Do we settle for much less and an infrastructure package that has been largely designed by Republicans in order to get 60 votes, or can we really transform this country, create millions of union jobs, revamp our power grid, get bridges fixed and schools rebuilt with 51 or 50 Democratic votes?” she said. More
