Pelosi announces select committee to investigate Jan. 6 attack on Capitol

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday she will create a select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol after Republicans blocked the formation of an independent commission.

The select committee will corral the various House Democratic investigations into the events surrounding the deadly insurrection into a single effort to examine what led to pro-Donald Trump supporters breaching the Capitol and disrupting the certification of President Joe Biden’s November 2020 election win.

Pelosi said that it had been four weeks since Senate Republicans blocked the commission, and it did not appear they would change their minds, so she was now moving forward with a select committee.

“This morning, with great solemnity and sadness, I’m announcing that the House will be establishing a select committee on the January 6 insurrection,” Pelosi said. “The select committee will investigate and report on the facts and the causes of the attack and it will report recommendations for the prevention of any future attack.”

CNN reported on Tuesday that Pelosi was moving forward with the select committee, though she denied at the time that she had made a decision yet. But two days later, Pelosi announced the committee would be formed.

The select committee is sure to set off a political battle over the investigation into the January 6 insurrection with Republicans, who have accused Democrats of continuing to investigate January for political reasons.

“I’m sure it will be political because that’s the whole way that she’s handled it,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday following reports Pelosi would move forward with the Select Committee.

But Democrats have insisted that a definitive investigation needs to be undertaken, particularly as some Republicans have tried to downplay the violence that occurred or spread conspiracy theories about who carried out the attack.