After 43 Republican Senators voter to acquit Donald Trump last week for inciting the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced this week that she has authorized a 9/11-style commission to further probe the events of that day as well the various dynamics and actions that led up to it.
In a letter to congressional colleagues Monday, Pelosi said that an initial probe and report presented by (ret.) Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré focused on the security failings of January 6, as well as the case presented during the impeachment hearings in the House and the trial in the Senate make clear that a more comprehensive investigation is warranted.
“It is clear from [Honoré’s] findings and from the impeachment trial that we must get to the truth of how this happened,” Pelosi stated.
Pelosi’s letter read as follows:
To protect our security, our next step will be to establish an outside, independent 9/11-type Commission to “investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6, 2021 domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex… and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power, including facts and causes relating to the preparedness and response of the United States Capitol Police and other Federal, State, and local law enforcement in the National Capitol Region.”
As we prepare for the Commission, it is also clear from General Honoré’s interim reporting that we must put forth a supplemental appropriation to provide for the safety of Members and the security of the Capitol.