Calls grow for 9/11-style panel to probe Capitol attack
By Scott Wong - 01/23/21 12:17 PM EST
Momentum is growing on Capitol Hill for an independent 9/11-style commission to investigate why law enforcement agencies were not better prepared on Jan. 6 when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, breached the building and threatened to assassinate the nation’s top leaders.
Rank-and-file House Democrats are calling for a bipartisan commission that would more broadly focus on the growing threat of domestic terrorism and violent extremism after this month’s insurrection. And top Republicans on the House Administration, Homeland Security and Oversight committees — Reps. Rodney Davis (Ill.), John Katko (N.Y.), and James Comer (Ky.) — have rolled out legislation creating a Jan. 6 commission that would be comprised of five Democrats and five Republicans.
The effort got a big boost this week when Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said it was all but inevitable that Congress would create a commission.
“We will have an after-action review; there will be a commission,†declared Pelosi, who had served on a special joint House and Senate committee that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a precursor to the more famous, independent 9/11 commission.
But Pelosi, who cut her teeth serving on the House Intelligence Committee, made clear her immediate focus is on evaluating and shoring up the current security at the Capitol complex, which includes the Capitol itself and a handful of surrounding buildings that house lawmaker offices and committees. The Speaker said she has been in close contact with Ret. Gen. Russel Honoré, whom she tapped to lead a rapid review of Capitol security to thwart a future attack on the seat of democracy.
more
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/535482-calls-grow-for-9-11-style-panel-to-probe-capitol-attack.
