WASHINGTON — Five years after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to thwart Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 election, both parties are still battling to control the narrative of that day.
Tuesday marks the fifth anniversary of that somber day during which thousands of Trump supporters descended onto Capitol Hill in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election, resulting in hundreds of people being injured and millions of dollars in physical damage. In the two years immediately following, Democrats cemented the official account of that day as being the fault of Trump, who they accused of attempting to overturn the election.
But Republicans, who have since regained control of Congress and now the White House, insist there’s more nuance to that version of events. They say there must have been something bigger going on behind the scenes that led to the security failures and alleged attack on democracy.
As a result, Republicans are laying the groundwork to investigate the events of the Jan. 6 attack all over again.
The House voted along party lines last year to create a new panel to determine whether intelligence shortcomings caused by political biases could have played a role in the security failures that day. The investigation will be led by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., through a task force on the House Judiciary Committee.
Loudermilk told reporters last month he plans to hold the subcommittee’s first hearing sometime in January, which he said would focus specifically on the FBI’s investigation into the Jan. 6 pipe bomber that was led by the Biden administration. The hearing comes after the Justice Department arrested a Virginia man in December for allegedly placing bombs at the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters.
The investigation at large will likely expand beyond that, and Loudermilk has previously said he would focus efforts on scrutinizing the work of the original Jan. 6 investigative committee led by Democrats when they controlled the House in 2021 and 2022.
Loudermilk has expressed concerns that the investigation was largely motivated to fit a predetermined political narrative accomplished by cherry-picked evidence and pointed testimony.
The original Jan. 6 committee was mostly made up of Democrats after then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy refused to nominate any additional Republicans after then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected some of his original picks. Only two Republicans ended up accepting a position on the panel: former Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
Democrats plan to hold Jan. 6 hearing
As Republicans comb back through the evidence, Democrats have signaled they will not stay silent.
In a Dear Colleague letter sent to lawmakers on Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced Democrats would hold a special hearing on the Jan. 6 anniversary to examine “ongoing threats” to election integrity as well as the “threats to public safety” posed by rioters charged in connection with the Capitol attack but were pardoned by Trump on the first day of his second term.
“In the years since that disgraceful day, far-right Republicans in Congress have repeatedly attempted to rewrite history and whitewash the events of January 6th. Our country has been indelibly scarred,” Jeffries wrote. “We must never forget the horrors of January 6th and will continue to honor the brave law enforcement officers who were injured and lost their lives defending the rule of law in the United States.”
With Democrats in the minority, the special hearing will be mostly symbolic.
However, Democrats will try to push back against Republicans’ narrative on the newly formed Jan. 6 subcommittee after Jeffries nominated three members to sit on the panel: Reps. Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Jared Moskowitz of Florida as well as Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who will serve as the ex-officio member.
Democrats have hinted at bringing Jack Smith, the former special counsel to the Justice Department, in for testimony as a way to help their case after he spent years investigating Trump and his role in the Capitol riot. Smith recently testified before the House Judiciary Committee where he claimed Trump and his top allies knew he lost the 2020 election but attempted to overturn the results in a “deliberate and criminal” fashion.
“President Trump was, by a large measure, the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy. These crimes were committed for his benefit,” Smith said, according to released testimony materials. “The attack that happened at the Capitol, part of this case, does not happen without him”
Smith’s closed-door testimony was quietly released on Dec. 31, but it could motivate Democrats on the panel to push for Smith to appear publicly for upcoming hearings.