“When you ask questions and get an answer, it usually leads to even more questions,” said Senate Homeland Security President Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Adding that he personally has “a long list of questions” for ex -employees and intends to hold a series of hearings on the subject.
Forty-eight days after the attackers invaded the Capitol while lawmakers certified the victory of the now President Joe Biden’s Electoral College, central details about the January 6 attack remained shrouded in mystery. The lack of any public accountability by the agencies and officials who oversee the security response has become a sore spot among lawmakers targeted by the rebels.
An important question: why did political considerations seem to have delayed approval to provide reinforcement from the National Guard to an overworked police force, more than 100 of whom were injured during the siege?
Another area that lawmakers are likely to address on Tuesday at the joint hearing of the Homeland Security and Rules panels is the cause of death for Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick. Initial reports that Sicknick was hit and killed by a fire extinguisher have yet to be verified, but his death shook the Capitol community and became emblematic of the devastation that protesters could have caused if the day had been even more bleak.
A third unknown hovering over the discussion is the roles that spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi and then Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell played in orchestrating the security response. Some details began to leak, suggesting that both leaders were puzzled by the failure of their chamber sergeants to immediately seek help from the National Guard – as well as the failure to have guards ready in advance – as the riot began to clear. threat to the security of lawmakers.
“The failure of the country’s law enforcement apparatus to fully understand the gravity of the situation, coupled with the president’s dramatic and deliberate incitement to violence, has led to the failure of any and all plans previously reported to Congress,” said Drew Hammill, aide of Pelosi.
The leadership team of both parties agreed during the crisis that Capitol Police leaders “should have asked for the physical deployment of the National Guard to protect the US Capitol complex well in advance on January 6,” added Hammill.
Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who resigned after the Jan. 6 attack, can shed light on all aspects of the security response. He suggested in media interviews that urgent efforts to secure a response from the National Guard became entangled in confusing chain of command issues, with House and Senate arms sergeants delaying approval, and Pentagon officials concerned about “optics.” “from heavily armed troops surrounding the Capitol.
Former weapons sergeants Michael Stenger of the Senate and Paul Irving of the House will testify alongside Sund at the hearing, in addition to Robert Contee III, acting chief of the Washington, DC police department.
Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the top Republican on the Rules Committee, said he wanted to better understand the nature of the talks between Stenger, Irving and Sund. Blunt also said he wants to examine whether the current structure of the Capitol Police “really works” – not just on a daily basis, but during emergencies.
Later this week, the House Appropriations Committee will hear testimony from Sund’s successor, Capitol Chief of Police Yogananda Pittman, as well as Irving’s successor, weapons sergeant Timothy Blodgett.
Tuesday’s hearing comes amid national pressure by police at all levels to track down and prosecute the worst actors in the January 6 uprising.
More than 200 participants in the riots were arrested – some simply for trespassing, others for assaulting the police. More recently, prosecutors have brought charges of conspiracy against nine members of the extremist militia known as Oath Keepers, claiming that the group mobilized and traveled to Washington to explicitly block the constitutionally required efforts by Congress to certify Biden’s victory. Although prosecutors initially indicated that some protesters could face even more serious charges of seditious conspiracy, none have yet been issued.
Still, the processes are likely to intensify. Biden’s appointed attorney general, Merrick Garland, told lawmakers on Monday that he plans to make the investigation a top priority in the early days of his term. House and Senate lawmakers also signaled their interest in seeking connections between troublemakers and white supremacists.
Sund could also be pressured over pending investigations by three dozen Capitol police, part of a force of about 2,000, whose actions during the protests raised questions. Six of them remain suspended during these reviews, Capitol Police confirmed.
The House accused Trump last month, accusing him of “inciting insurrection,” a claim that drew 57 votes of support in the Senate – including seven Republicans. But the vote fell short of the two-thirds needed to condemn and prevent Trump from seeking public office in the future. Trump has signaled that he intends to remain a political force within the Republican Party, adding another layer of volatility to ongoing investigations.
This dimension will weigh on legislators when considering whether to authorize the creation of an intensive review of all the causes and political gaps exposed by the January 6 uprising.
Democratic leaders called for an investigative panel, inspired by the 9/11 Commission that investigated the 2001 terrorist attacks, to examine the different lines that contributed to the attack, and many Republicans have signaled openness to that momentum. The commission could probe Trump’s role in inciting protesters, as well as the causes of increased radicalization in sight among many of the protesters, as well as security lapses that could be corrected with new legislation or political changes.
Blunt emphasized that the commission should have an equal number of Republican and Democratic nominees, as did the 9/11 Commission. House leaders are negotiating this week about the exact structure of the investigative body, but it appears to have broad support in both chambers, as long as it functions as a complement to other investigations, including those that occur on Capitol Hill.
“At the very least, I think you should allow the criminal justice system to work on this case, and that will give us a lot of answers,” said Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Vice President of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “But I am not against the idea.”