WASHINGTON (AP), A new committee that will investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol would include 13 members and have the power to subpoena witnesses. This is according to legislation released today by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The bill is due to be voted on by the House this week.After Senate Republicans stopped the formation of a bipartisan, independent commission to investigate the attack in which hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump broke into the Capitol and disrupted the certification of President Joe Biden's victory, the Senate Republicans have now launched the effort.Pelosi would appoint eight members to the new partisan House panel, while five others would be appointed following consultation with Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. According to a Pelosi aide, the speaker may include a Republican in her appointments. This would increase the likelihood of a 7-6 split. An aide to Pelosi was allowed anonymity to discuss her thoughts.Monday's statement by Pelosi stated that Jan. 6, was one of the darkest times in the nation's history. The committee will investigate the matter.She stated that the Select Committee would investigate and report on the facts and causes of the attack, and make recommendations to prevent future attacks."Many Republicans were worried about a partisan probe since the majority of Democrats will likely investigate Trump's role in the siege as well as the right-wing groups present. Nearly three dozen House Republicans voted for the creation of an independent panel. This would have seen a balanced partisan split between members. Seven Republicans supported the bill's passage in the Senate, but it was not passed by the necessary 10 Senate Republicans.The new Pelosis legislation states that the select committee will have subpoena powers and an end date. The panel may issue interim reports while it conducts the investigation.The legislation does not mention Trump. It directs the select panel to investigate facts and circumstances relating the attack on the United States Capitol Complex, January 6, 2021 by domestic terrorists, and to interfere with peaceful transfer of power. This panel would also examine the influences that led to such an attack against American representative democracy, while it was engaged in a constitutional process.Continue the storyLast month, the House approved the bill to create an independent commission. Pelosi (D-Calif.) stated that she preferred to have an independent panel oversee the inquiry. She said last week that Congress couldn't wait to take a deeper look into the insurrection and she would create the panel. She hasn't yet revealed who will be leading it.Pelosi stated that the select committee could complement an independent panel and that she was hopeful that one could be formed. However, there is no indication that any GOP votes are changing.Many Republicans are clear that they want to move past the Jan. 6 attack. They have brushed aside many unanswered queries about the insurrection, such as how law enforcement and government missed intelligence leading to the rioting, and Trump's role before and after the insurrection.Others within the GOP went further. One suggested that the rioters looked more like tourists, while another insisted that Ashli Babbitt (a Trump supporter) was executed. He was trying to enter the House chamber and was shot and killed.Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, and Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn were among the two officers who fought the rioters. They have been lobbying Republicans for an independent commission, and met with McCarthy Friday. They said that they had requested McCarthy to condemn GOP comments that downplayed the violence.Fanone stated that he had asked McCarthy for a promise not to place the wrong people on the new select committee. McCarthy responded by saying that he would consider it serious. McCarthy's office didn't respond to inquiries for comment about the meeting or the legislation that created the select committee.McCarthy was also requested by the officers to denounce 21 Republicans who had voted against awarding medals of honour to the U.S. Capitol Police or the Metropolitan Police earlier in the month to thank them for their services on Jan. 6. Several of these officers sustained injuries including brain injuries and fractures.McCarthy, who voted in favor of the measure, assured them that he would handle those members privately.Babbitt, along with three other Trump supporters, were among the seven people who died in the rioting. In the days that followed, two police officers committed suicide and another officer, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick fell and died later after engaging in protests. Later, a medical examiner determined that he had died from natural causes.___
