Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is rejecting a draft proposal of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s (D-Calif.) vision for a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The draft suggested a commission comprised of seven Democrats and four Republicans.
However, the Republican leader shot down that draft and suggested that a broad review of the violence at the Capitol should include a review of the violence that occurred during racial justice protests last summer.
“If Congress is going to attempt some broader analysis of toxic political violence across this country, then in that case, we cannot have artificial cherry-picking of which terrible behavior does and does not deserve scrutiny,” McConnell said.
McConnell suggested that he would support a narrowly focused commission that looks at the events at the Capitol or a commission that examines the “full scope” of political violence.
“We could do something narrow that looks at the Capitol, or we could potentially do something broader to analyze the full scope of the political violence problem in this country,” he said.
“We cannot land at some artificial, politicized halfway point.”
Pelosi said earlier this month that lawmakers will establish an independent commission to examine “facts and causes relating to the preparedness and response of the United States Capitol Police and other federal, state, and local law enforcement.”
As Politico notes, it now appears that Pelosi’s idea for an independent commission is in trouble following McConnell’s comments.
While the Congressional leaders debate the structure of the commission, the Senate is holding hearings into violence.
Former Capitol Police chief Steven Sund told lawmakers on Tuesday that his department did not receive a warning from the FBI that there were calls for violence on Jan. 6.
“None of the intelligence we received predicted what actually occurred,” Sund said. “We properly planned for a mass demonstration with possible violence.”
He added, “What we got was a military-style coordinated assault on my officers and a violent takeover of the Capitol Building.”
