January 6 committee speeds up work without a clear path to a result

It has been four months since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced plans to form a panel to investigate the deadly riot, and the committee is set to issue its first subpoenas as it attempts to gather all the information he requested.

The committee held only one public hearing, but potentially requested millions of documents from various government agencies and social media companies. He is also requested that the telecommunications records of hundreds of people be kept as he attempts to piece together a picture of what went wrong that day and who is to blame. The committee received only a fraction of what it requested and it is what this information reveals that will ultimately determine the course of the investigation.

“We have to see from the perspective of who helped fund what happened,” said Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the committee. “We have to see what individuals have to do with bringing people here. We have to see who, in fact, drove the disinformation and how social media was part of that effort.”

This accusation is broad and the members of the committee seem to be aware that the mission will not be easy.

“You know this is an overwhelming task because we are talking about one of the greatest crimes in American history, involving thousands of people and thousands of potential offenses,” said Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of the Maryland, Committee Member.

Another committee member, Democratic Representative Elaine Luria of Virginia, reacted when asked if the investigation was being restricted.

“This is a full investigation. I think you can easily say it’s all of the above,” Luria told CNN when asked how the committee planned to focus after sending out some comments. slices of requests to government agencies, social media companies and individuals. “We’ve sent out loads of information requests. We’re getting thousands of pages of information, and it’s going to take time and a deliberative process to go through them. And we’re also going to hear from people in public hearings as well. . “

“I think the expectation is that, you know, all of a sudden everyone will immediately know what we’re doing. The truth is, there’s a lot of information to be gathered. ‘That’s what we’re talking about now, that’s sort of pushing the plan forward, “he said.” But the scope will be wide. “

The committee cast a wide net and researched much of this information while the House was on recess, giving Members limited opportunities to meet in person and discuss the way forward. Although the committee meets almost on a fairly regular basis, the group met in person for the first time in over a month on Monday evening and came away with a renewed sense that they were headed in the right direction. As members came and went from Monday’s meeting, a large screen could be seen with a PowerPoint presentation outlining a communications strategy.

“It’s an overwhelming database of information that we are looking for,” conceded Raskin. “But we break it down systematically and determine the types of relationships and connections that need to be exposed.”

Part of the challenge for the committee is that it doesn’t know where the investigation may lead. He relies on this collection of information to reveal a path. Members continue to make it clear that they are not going to limit their work to a specific target, but expect that once they start to analyze the details, they will have a sense of where to go. focus.

“I think we’ve been very clear from the start that we’re going to follow the facts,” said Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the Republican vice-chair of the committee. “We are very focused on every aspect that we presented. What happened before January 6th, what happened on 6th. What happened after 6.”

For Cheney, the committee’s goal will be to take the voluminous amount of information and offer a concise account of what happened. A challenge that they hope to have completed by next spring.

“We are telling the American people the story of what happened,” Cheney said. “I think people know bits and pieces of it. We’ve seen bits and pieces of it being reported. But I think I present the full picture of what really happened, the decisions that were made, how it led. attacking the Capitol is really going to be our focus. “

According to Cheney, the nature of the committee’s work, the majority of which will continue to take place behind closed doors, also makes it difficult for the public to follow the panel’s progress.

“There is a huge amount of work going on that is not public, and I think it’s very important that people recognize it and understand it,” Cheney said.

But there are signs that the committee is ready to speed up its work considerably. Thompson said Monday evening that subpoenas could be issued as early as next week and that more public hearings are scheduled. Thompson also said they are also planning closed-door talks.

The president said that at the end of the day, the committee will have to produce something that Congress can act on.

“We really need to make recommendations as a committee that would put Congress in a position that a situation like Jan. 6 would never happen again,” Thompson said.