In the House of Representatives, the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol is getting ready to begin its work, but the committee finds itself in an odd position.
The latest episode of TechTank.
FBI Director Christopher Wray says that the bureau’s internal guidelines prevented it from looking at social media posts announcing the planned attack on the Capitol. But the guidelines say nothing of the sort.
The Senate Rules and Administration Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee conducted a joint probe, and this week, they released their own joint report on the events of Jan. 6. The document is both a useful record and profoundly incomplete.
Several court battles show the tension between the administration’s desire to break with the Trump years and the Justice Department’s other institutional interests.
The bipartisan compromise the House will consider on Wednesday could support a serious investigation. It could also produce deadlock and grandstanding. Everything will depend on the commission’s composition and staffing.
The House Judiciary Committee’s agreement with Don McGahn would have been a big win for Congress had it come back in 2019. Coming today, though, it presents a much more muddled picture.
