House GOP report aims to undermine Jan. 6 committee
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Rep. Barry Loudermilk. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.
A Republican-led House committee on Monday released a report attempting to undermine the work of the Jan. 6 select committee.
Why it matters: The report pushes back against the select committee's focus on former President Trump, as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee reasserts his grip over the Republican Party.
- A senior Democratic congressional aide called the report "yet another attempt to rewrite the history of January 6th and whitewash the events of that horrible, bloody, and violent day."
- Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the former chair of the Jan. 6 committee, said in a statement that the report is "dishonest."
Catch up quick: It's the culmination of more than a year's worth of investigation by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), who was targeted by the panel directly for information related to the insurrection.
What it's saying: The 81-page report released by the oversight subcommittee of the House Administration Committee – chaired by Loudermilk – accuses the Jan. 6 panel of producing a "political narrative using cherry-picked information that supports its overall narrative."
- Partisanship: The report takes aim at former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) rejection of several GOP appointees to the panel and her appointment of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as its vice chair – rather than ranking member – to argue the panel wasn't truly bipartisan.
- Document preservation: The report accuses the committee of failing to preserve video recordings and transcripts of some of its depositions.
- Cassidy Hutchinson: The report cites unpublished Jan. 6 committee testimony from four unnamed White House staffers which "directly contradicts" former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson's account of a physical alteration between Trump and a secret service agent.
- Loudermilk: The report includes a section refuting allegations that at Jan. 5, 2021 tour of House office buildings led by Loudermilk served as a "reconnaissance tour" for some participants in the Capitol attack.
- Fani Willis: The report accuses the Jan. 6 committee of participating in "collusion" with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose office is prosecuting Trump for his efforts to overturn the state's 2020 election.
- Capitol security: The report's final section says the Jan. 6 committee "failed to answer many obvious questions" about security and intelligence failures on Jan. 6 and alleges "political factors" were at play.
Between the lines: The report heavily refutes and criticizes the overwhelming conclusion in the Jan. 6 committee's final report that Trump, in his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, played a central role in the violence.
The other side: "All the evidence points to the same conclusion: Donald Trump wanted to join his violent mob as it marched on the Capitol, and he was irate when his security detail told him he couldn't go," Thompson said.
- Thompson added that the select committee was "obligated" to send some transcripts to the White House for review to "protect sensitive information as well as the privacy of witnesses" — the source of Loudermilk's complaint that he withheld document.
- "Loudermilk is merely trying to deflect from Donald Trump's responsibility for the violence of January 6th and his own refusal to answer the Select Committee's questions."
What's next: Loudermilk's subcommittee is holding a hearing on Tuesday into the pipe bombs planted at the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters on Jan. 6.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Rep. Bennie Thompson.
