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Top House Republican opposes commission to probe US Capitol attack
National
May 19, 2021
WASHINGTON: Legislation to create a 9/11-style commission to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack by a mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters suffered a serious setback on Tuesday when House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy came out against it.
Repudiating a deal announced last week by the top Democratic and Republican members of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, McCarthy said in a statement: “I cannot support this legislation.” McCarthy is a close ally of Trump. Hundreds of Trump supporters stormed into the Capitol, interrupting the formal congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory, fighting with police and leaving five dead including a Capitol Police officer. Some Republicans have sought to downplay the violence at the Capitol.
By Jason Hall
House Republican Leader
Kevin McCarthy referred to a bipartisan proposal for a commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol as potentially counterproductive.
NBC News reports McCarthy issued a lengthy statement prior to the scheduled U.S. House vote on the measure in which he argued that multiple investigations into the insurrection already exist and instead wants the panel to investigate other instances of violence.
The bipartisan proposal was announced Friday (May 14) by Reps.
Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and
John Katko (R-N.Y.), the top Democrat and Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, who reached a deal to model guidelines for the panel after the 9/11 Commission.
His dissent comes as some other Republicans have started to downplay the severity of the violent attack By Mary Clare Jalonick, Alan Fram and Lisa Mascaro •
Published May 18, 2021 •
Updated on May 18, 2021 at 4:39 pm
Kent Nishimura | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday that he won’t support a proposal to form an independent, bipartisan commission to study the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, almost certainly eroding GOP support ahead of a vote and positioning his party as opposed to investigations of the attack.
McCarthy said he wanted the new panel to look beyond the violent uprising by supporters loyal to Donald Trump, who were trying to stop the certification of President Joe Biden s election. McCarthy pushed to have the new commission also investigate other groups, namely the Black Lives Matter groups that protested police violence in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday is expected to pass a measure that would create a commission to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol attack by Donald Trump's supporters, testing Republican loyalty to the former president, who has denounced the proposal.