The Big Insight: Despite an early attempt at bipartisanship, the January 6 Committee’s work has become a partisan exercise about which the public is skeptical.
On January 6, 2021, a violent mob penetrated the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the formal certification of the election of Joe Biden as president. The incursion halted the proceedings, sent elected officials including Vice President Mike Pence into lockdown, and resulted in the deaths of several police officers. Rioters rappelled into the Senate chamber, seized the presiding officer’s chair, and broke into congressional offices.
The U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack will soon begin its public hearings, with committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) promising findings that will “tell a story that will blow the roof off the House.” But despite an early attempt by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to create a truly bipartisan committee, actions by the leaders of both parties have resulted in a one-sided effort that is unlikely to produce results that will bring the country together.
The Committee has focused on a wide range of related topics — the incidents inside the Capitol complex itself, demonstrations on the National Mall and at the Capitol on and around January 6, funding of efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, pressure campaigns at the state level regarding election certification, and online misinformation and extremist activity.
1. There are seven Democrats, and just two Republicans, on the Committee.
The first attempt to create a congressional panel to investigate the attack aimed at bipartisanship. It would have created a commission with an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, and was shepherded by Rep. John Katko (R-NY), ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee. But just 35 Republicans joined unified Democrats in voting to create the commission, and it was filibustered in the Senate, with only six Republicans voting for cloture.
Pelosi then opted to appoint a select committee herself, and won the authority to do so on a near-party-line vote, with just two Republicans in favor and 19 not voting. Pelosi appointed eight members — seven Democrats and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY). House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy recommended five more Republicans. His list included far-right Reps. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Jim Jordan (R-OH), who had voted to overturn the electoral vote in two states and had signed on to a Trump-backed court effort to invalidate the ballots of voters in four states.
After Pelosi rejected Banks and Jordan, McCarthy pulled his full list of recommendations. Pelosi then added Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) to the panel. Cheney and Kinzinger were later censured by the Republican National Committee for taking part.
2. The committee has obtained more than 35,000 documents and conducted more than 860 interviews.
In April, a committee aide told CNN that the panel is also following up on more than 460 tips received. Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), a member of the committee, told CNN, “We’re triangulating basically from a lot of different angles, and we are getting a fulsome picture of what happened in the run-up to and on the day of January 6.”
Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner have all testified, but the committee appears unlikely to subpoena Donald Trump himself. Cheney suggested in December 2021 that the former president may have committed a felony by obstructing the electoral certification proceedings, which could carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.
3. Four Trump advisors including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have been held in criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to testify.
Steve Bannon, former Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro, and Trump White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Dan Scavino have also been held in criminal contempt.
While he has not testified nor turned over a complete set of requested documents, Meadows provided thousands of emails and text messages that revealed the actions of key players on and around January 6. Meadows also provided the committee with an outside supporter’s plan to have Trump declare a national security emergency to delay the electoral certification, invalidate all machine-cast ballots, and have the military seize and recount all paper ballots.
4. The committee has spent $2.5 million so far and is expected to spend $9.3 million by the end of 2022.
By comparison, the select committee created in 2014 to investigate the Benghazi attack spent about $7.8 million over two and a half years. The January 6 committee’s spending will accelerate as a series of eight public hearings begin in June. Committee members have expressed hope that televised hearings will remind Americans of the severity of what happened on January 6, rather than revealing new bombshells.
5. An April poll found that 49% of registered voters thought the committee was doing important work — but with a wide partisan split.
While 74% of Democrats endorsed the committee’s efforts, just 23% of Republicans did. And two-thirds of Republicans said the committee “is too focused on the past,” a position that only 18% of Democrats held. This mirrors public skepticism throughout the investigation. Last August, a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll found that 58% of Americans thought the commission was biased. One month later, a Pew Research Center poll found that 54% doubted the committee would be fair and reasonable.
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