Committee Investigating Capitol Attack Begins With Divisions Showing Fracture Of Congress | International

This Tuesday begins the commission of the United States Congress which will investigate the assault on the Capitol on January 6, after a crowd of supporters of Donald Trump burst into the temple of American democracy with the ultimate goal of blocking the nomination of Joe Biden as the new president. The attack left five dead, including a Capitol Hill police officer, and forced assembled lawmakers certifying the Democrat’s victory to evacuate or go into hiding for fear of losing his life.

More US News

This disastrous day gave rise to a historically unprecedented event: for the first time, an American president faced a second impeachment trial. For the events of January 6, Donald Trump was accused of “inciting insurgency”, since his supporters went to attack the Capitol after hearing a fiery speech from him in which he urged them to “fight like the devil ”with him in order to“ take back ”the country and march towards Congress. On February 13, the Senate acquitted Trump, who was discharged from charges, after Democrats failed to reach the magic number of 60 votes imposed by obstructionism (two-thirds of the chamber) and 57 Party senators voted in favor. against 43 Republicans.

Many Republicans since its inception have attacked the creation of the panel as a partisan Democrat move to implicate Trump for his role in the Capitol Hill chaos. They are also a legion who deny that Trump pushed, shouting Save America (Save America), his supporters violently burst into parliament. About 800 people entered the building, devastating offices and clashing with the police (140 policemen were injured). There are over 500 defendants for the events of that day, with charges ranging from burglary to assaulting police officers to vandalism.

The clash between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republicans in Congress has proven over the past few months the irreconcilable division that exists between the two parties, which made it very difficult from the outset to achieve a commission of inquiry. the assault on the Capitol. A great political storm erupted when Pelosi announced on July 1 that Republican Liz Cheney (daughter of Vice President George W. Bush, 2001-2009) would serve on the inquiry committee. Weeks before the announcement, the Wyoming congressional representative was punished and stripped of her Republican leadership position on Capitol Hill for refuting Trump’s baseless allegations of fraud in the November presidential election. .

On July 21, Pelosi appointed eight members to the commission of inquiry, which included seven Democrats and one Republican. Two days earlier, House Minority Leader Republican Kevin McCarthy told the five members he was recommending his party scrutinize the events of January. This Wednesday, July 21, Pelosi also announced in a statement that it was rejecting the proposal of two of the five lawmakers proposed by McCarthy, Jim Banks (Indiana) and Jim Jordan (Ohio), because they had approved the false theory of electoral fraud. . denounced by Trump. The Speaker of the House of Representatives accepted the other three recommendations as valid. In response, McCarthy withdrew all of his candidates from the negotiating table and warned that he would not appoint anyone else to this committee if the five already appointed were not accepted.

Besides Cheney, on the committee chaired by Mississippi Representative Bennie Thomson – who since 2019 has served as Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee – there is only one other Republican, Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger. Kinzinger was not nominated by the Republican Party, but was added by Pelosi to the most serious assault investigation the US Congress has ever seen. Of course, if Cheney were removed from his political leadership in Congress, Kinzinger could suffer the same fate. Both members of Congress could be expelled by their own party from their seats in the House of Representatives.

Pelosi said Sunday that Kinzinger “brings great patriotism to the committee’s mission: to find the facts and protect democracy.” The Republican made it clear his objective by agreeing to join the fact-finding mission. “Be clear, I am a Republican who believes in conservative values, but who has sworn to defend the Constitution and, despite the fact that this is not the job I wanted or sought, when the duty calls I will always answer “said the congressman.

Responding to questions from the press Monday at a ceremony in the White House garden, McCarthy called Cheney and Kinzinger “Republicans Pelosi.” “Who are they? Adam and Liz?” The Republican mocked, flinging an ironic question to reporters: “Aren’t they Pelosi’s kind of Republicans?” The minority leader at the Chamber refused to answer reporters as to whether he planned to sanction the two politicians in any way for having agreed to be part of the investigation. The committee’s first hearing on Tuesday, Cheney limited himself to responding to McCarthy’s comments that they were “pretty childish.”

Pelosi continues to defend the necessity of the panel: “I believe that this commission, to gain the confidence of the American people, must act in a way that has no partisanship, it is about patriotism.” “I am very proud of the members of the commission and I am very confident that they will achieve this goal. We must start ignoring the antics of those who do not want to find the truth again, “said the Democrat.

In a final desperate attempt to portray a – nonexistent – image of bipartisanship, Democrats have put forward the figure of Liz Cheney and announced that the daughter of former vice president Bush will make one of two statements. opening of the hearing on the investigation into the assault on the capital. Tuesday’s session will be devoted to four law enforcement officers who, on January 6, defended Congress with their lives, despite being subjected to verbal and physical violence.

Subscribe here wing bulletin of EL PAÍS América and receive all the informative keys of the current situation in the region.