House Republicans create new investigation on January 6 to restart the assault

Speaker Mike Johnson announced Wednesday that House Republicans would create a new special subcommittee to investigate the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and counter “false narratives” about it, continuing the party’s efforts to rewrite the history of the riot.

Johnson’s announcement comes just two days after President Trump pardoned those accused of the attack. This suggests that Republicans are planning to use their power over government to continue promoting their own sanitized version of what happened when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, disrupting the certification of the election. 2020.

Mr Johnson said the panel, which would be part of the Judiciary Committee, would continue to “expose the false narratives peddled” by the previous select committee which investigated the riot and what led to it. He called the committee, which placed blame squarely on Mr. Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, “politically motivated.”

“We are establishing this select subcommittee to continue our efforts to uncover the full truth that is owed to the American people,” Mr. Johnson said in a statement.

This decision marks the latest step by the Republicans in their attempt to reformulate the events of January 6. On Monday, Mr. Trump granted nearly 1,600 pardons and 14 sentence commutations to rioters, including those convicted of assaulting police officers and seditious plotting against the United States. States. He called January 6 a “day of love” and the rioters “political prisoners,” “hostages” and “great patriots.”

And on Wednesday, one of those whose sentence was commuted, Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers militia who was released from prison Monday, was seen at a Dunkin’ Donuts inside the Capitol complex. Mr. Rhodes was convicted of sedition following the attack on the Capitol.