This precisely. It’s ludicrous to think that the events of January 6 are strictly a matter for criminal investigation and prosecution. There are numerous questions regarding the events of and leading up to that day that have policy implications and need Congressional oversight. It’d be like saying because the 9/11 hijackers all died and couldn’t be prosecuted, Congress should have just put it all behind them and moved on to other matters. Instead they created the 9/11 Commission to establish the factual events of the attack, examine the failures of intelligence and security that allowed it, and consider how best to safeguard against a future such event.
It seems like the Republicans want 1/6 to happen again, but for it to be successful next time. Investigating how it happened will hinder those efforts. I hate to think that this is the case, but how else are we supposed to interpret their actions?
Particularly as an increasing number of them are actively calling for a coup, and Trump is happily announcing that he’ll be back in the White House in August.
Your question is reasonable, but the answer is the subpoena power. The FBI doesn’t have it; a congressional committee does. When an investigatory agency asks questions, you can just refuse to anwer.
I’m sorry, but this is not true.
I continue to disagree that the FBI is the appropriate agency to conduct an investigation requiring conclusions that go beyond illegality. They are a law enforcement agency, not one meant for general investigations into political machinations that may have been the root cause of an illegal action. @BobLibDem’s post put it very well.
Complete sidetrack, but the FBI still needs a judge or grand jury to sign off on a subpoena, no? Congress can issue subpoenas under their own authority.
I believe that’s true. Moreover, they could only issue subpoenas in connection with probable cause to investigate criminally. It’s not nearly broad enough to investigate root causes of something like January 6th, where culpability, criminal or otherwise, may never come to light.
I think it’s obvious this is what Republicans are worried about.
There’s no safe way to permit Republicans to have any substantive influence over the proceedings, but some fig leaf of bipartisanship is better than none.
So, invite Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, with an explicit mandate to do nothing and not interfere. Sweeten the deal with some pork projects and make it clear that they’re to praise the fairness of the committee frequently, vigorously, and publicly.
It’s a sad situation but this is both the highest and lowest bar attainable in the current environment w/r/t bipartisanship.
I think there’s no safe way to permit the Republican leadership (McCarthy or McConnell) to have any substantive influence, but I do think we could involve some widely respected Republicans, couldn’t we? Particularly the elder retired statesman type.
I have to disagree on this.
If we’re to judge the track record of supposedly neutral “balls-and-strikes” Republicans like Robert Mueller, the record suggests that such individuals aren’t up to pursuing the matter vigorously wherever it leads. And that’s the mildest, most charitable take on what happened there.
If we’re to believe Trump’s base, they will execute any Republican who even hints at holding Trump and Trumpers accountable for anything whatsoever.
If we’re to believe prominent elected Republicans, all of them take that threat seriously, and none can do their jobs for that reason. (I don’t know how they explain AOC showing up to work and voting her conscience every day, but whatever).
Whatever Republican rationalization you choose to believe, their behavior plainly shows they can’t be relied upon to do anything but circle the wagons. Or, they’ll passively aid the wagon-circlers via inaction, slow-walking, narrow interpretation of scope and rules, and information leakage.
A lot of the discussion focuses on a top-down analysis of republicans, but the republicans in power are responding to millions of voters who willingly swill fake news and conspiracy theories. America’s problem is, there are no more shared values. “America” has a deep, deep fissure in terms of its values and its beliefs of what defines us as a country. This will be exploited relentlessly be enemies foreign and domestic. I don’t see any way to avoid a massive political crisis and, ultimately, political violence.
Surely you mean more political violence. considering the action responsible for the OP is exactly that. But yes, I agree. This is at most the end of the beginning, sadly said beginning may well be the beginning of the end of liberal democracy in the US.
As expected, Speaker Pelosi announced that the House will form a select committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection after Senate Republicans killed a bipartisan commission bill in the Senate. Not a lot of details yet, like who will chair, what the scope of the committee’s charge will be, etc. The big question is whether Republicans will appoint members to the committee at all, and if they do, whom. MTG doesn’t have anything else to do. . .