On Thursday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced that Republican delegates will seek information on the Capitol and nation’s security that same day from one of their own.
The person from whom they will seek information is none other than Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
This question is related to information that Republicans have already asked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for.
Majority Leader at the Time
Pelosi and McConnell, who was the majority leader on the day of the revolt, each had jurisdiction over the House and Senate staff officers at arms, respectively.
They were also two of the three representatives of the Capitol Police Board, the governing body over the police department that can approve requests for assistance from the National Guard.
Pelosi has taken the brunt of the blame from House Republican members for the security lapses that occurred that day. However, Republicans have yet to investigate whether or not McConnell played a role.
The congressional hearings on the 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump supporters will spotlight testimony by the former president's top aides and family members https://t.co/QWVR8bMGND
Here’s a timeline of what happened on January 6, 2021 👇 pic.twitter.com/OFdBkliUVo
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 9, 2022
On Thursday, however, McCarthy was directly questioned about whether or not Republicans would ask similar questions of McConnell, as they have of Pelosi. This prompted a change in the situation.
“Yes,” was the response from McCarthy.
“If at all possible, we’d like to get to the bottom of why the Capitol was so unprepared. There are rumors that were presented with an opportunity to join the National Guard as early as January 2nd,” said McCarthy.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) began the press conference by running through a list of questions that Republicans have regarding the attack on the Capitol building and want the Jan. 6 committee to answer.
The purpose of the press conference was to counterprogram the prime-time hearing of the House inquiry assigned to investigate the riot scheduled to occur on Thursday night.
As we prepare for the January 6 hearings tonight, some numbers:
-5 people died, including one Capitol Police officer and 4 Trump supporters
-4 police officers who responded to the attack subsequently died by suicide
-140+ officers injured
$1.5 million in damage to the Capitol— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid 😷 (@JoyAnnReid) June 9, 2022
Prior Information
These questions included inquiries into whether or not Nancy Pelosi had been in contact with the House sergeant at arms on January 6 and in the days leading up to the riot.
There are also inquiries into whether or not Pelosi had been involved in the decision to delay the arrival of the National Guard on January 6.
Before Pelosi intervened, McCarthy had chosen Banks to be the senior member of the select committee. However, Pelosi was able to prevent his appointment.
Banks is currently spearheading a counter-investigation of the security posture of the Capitol, which is being directed by McCarthy and plans to publish a report on their findings.
McCarthy did not specify a specific date for when that report is anticipated to be issued, but he did say it will be made public “soon.”
These issues raised should be looked into. Overlooking or putting them aside would further enable the Democrats to punish Republicans for an incident that can’t be tied to them.
