US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday announced that she will create a select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol before President Joe Biden's inauguration, after the Republicans recently blocked the formation of an independent commission.
According to CNN, the committee will include various House Democratic investigations into the events surrounding the deadly insurrection into a single effort to examine what led to supporters of former President Donald Trump breaching the Capitol and disrupting the certification of President Joe Biden's November 2020 election win.
It had been four weeks since Senate Republicans blocked the independent commission on the attack and it did not appear they would change their minds, said Pelosi.
"This morning, with great solemnity and sadness, I'm announcing that the House will be establishing a select committee on the January 6 insurrection. The select committee will investigate and report on the facts and the causes of the attack and it will report recommendations for the prevention of any future attack," she said.
The select committee is sure to set off a political battle over the investigation into the January 6 insurrection with Republicans, who have accused Democrats of continuing to investigate the incident for political reasons, reported CNN.
"I'm sure it will be political because that's the whole way that she's handled it," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Wednesday.
Earlier, 35 Republicans voted to create the independent commission, after a bipartisan deal had been struck for a panel with equal representation and subpoena power. However, McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell opposed the commission, and Senate Republicans voted for the measure in a 54-35 vote, short of the 60 needed.
Pelosi said it would have been "preferable" to have an outside commission to investigate the January 6 attack, but said she was not worried that the select committee would be dismissed as a political effort.
"I don't worry about that at all," she said. "I have no intention of walking away from our responsibility."
The select committee is likely to closely examine the role Trump played in the lead up to the attack, in which the former President spread lies about the 2020 election being stolen from him.
On January 6, a crowd of Trump supporters had ransacked the US Capitol and disrupted the work of Congress counting electoral votes to formalize Joe Biden's victory. More than 140 people were reportedly injured in the storming and five people died of various causes.
( With inputs from ANI )
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