The House Jan. 6 committee is shutting down, having completed an 18-month investigation into the 2021 Capitol insurrection and sent its work to the Justice Department along with a recommendation to impeach former President Donald Trump.
The committee’s time officially ends Tuesday when the new Republican-led House of Representatives is sworn in. With many of the committee’s staff members already gone, the remaining aides have spent the past two weeks publishing many of the panel’s materials, including its 814-page final report, over 200 witness interview transcripts, and documents used to support your conclusions.
Lawmakers have said they want to make their work public to underscore the seriousness of the attack and Trump’s multi-pronged effort to try to overturn the election.
“Accountability is now critical to thwarting any future plans to overturn an election,” Speaker Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, and Vice Speaker Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, wrote in a farewell message Monday. “We have made a series of criminal references, and our justice system is responsible for what comes next.”
READ ALSO: ‘Proudly successful’ Donald Trump’s ‘horrible things’ warning on tax returns
Some of the committee’s work, such as video of hundreds of witness interviews, will not be immediately made public. The committee is sending those videos and some other committee records to the National Archives, which by law would make them available in 50 years. Committee members said they did not release that videotape now because it would have been too difficult to edit and redact confidential information.
However, incoming Republican leaders may try to obtain those materials much sooner. A provision in a package of proposed House rules released Sunday requires the National Archives to transfer “any committee-related records” to the House no later than January 17.
It’s unclear whether the GOP-led House could enforce the provision and what they would do with the materials.
The committee’s conclusion comes after one of the most aggressive and far-reaching congressional investigations in recent memory. The panel formally or informally interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, collected more than 1 million documents, and held 10 well-monitored hearings. The panel’s two Republicans and seven Democrats were able to conduct the investigation with little interference after House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy declined to name minority members, upset that the House Speaker of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, had rejected two of his suggested appointments.
In the end, the panel unanimously concluded that Trump coordinated a multi-level “conspiracy,” lobbying states, federal officials, and lawmakers to try to overturn his defeat, and inspired a violent mob of supporters to attack the Capitol. and interrupt the certification of the victory of President Joe Biden. The panel recommended that the Justice Department indict Trump on four counts, including aiding an insurrection.
While an alleged criminal reference has no real legal value, it is a forceful statement from the committee and adds to the political pressure already being brought to bear on Attorney General Merrick Garland and Special Counsel Jack Smith, who are investigating on January 6. and Trump’s actions. .
“This is the most intense investigation I have ever been involved in,” said California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who has been in the House for nearly three decades and served as an aide to a member of the House Judiciary Committee in the decade. in 1970 when Congress was preparing to impeach then-President Richard Nixon. Lofgren was also on the House for the impeachment trial of former President Bill Clinton and served as impeachment manager during Trump’s first impeachment trial three years ago.
“I’ve never been involved in anything this broad and intense,” Lofgren said.
READ ALSO: US Capitol Riots: List of Laws Trump Violated as Panel Seeks Criminal Charges
She says that at the beginning of the investigation, she felt it would be successful if there was a renewed enthusiasm for protecting democracy. In the November midterm elections, 44% of voters said the future of democracy was their top consideration at the polls, according to AP VoteCast, a national poll of the electorate.
Lofgren says he believes the committee made it clear that Trump was responsible for the insurrection and that it “wasn’t done at the last minute.”
“I think we demonstrated that and sent it all over to the Department of Justice,” Lofgren said. “We’ll see what they do.”
