WASHINGTON 鈥� House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Congress will establish an independent, Sept. 11-style commission to look into the deadly insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol.
Pelosi said the commission will 鈥渋nvestigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex 鈥� and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power."
In a letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said the House will also put forth supplemental spending to boost security at the Capitol.
After former President Donald Trump鈥檚 acquittal at his second Senate impeachment trial, bipartisan support appeared to be growing for an independent commission to examine the deadly insurrection.
Investigations into the riot were already planned, with Senate hearings scheduled later this month in the Senate Rules Committee. Pelosi, D-Calif., asked retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honor茅 to lead an immediate review of the Capitol鈥檚 security process.
In her letter Monday, Pelosi said, 鈥淚t is clear from his findings and from the impeachment trial that we must get to the truth of how this happened.鈥�
She added, 鈥淎s we prepare for the Commission, it is also clear from General Honor茅鈥檚 interim reporting that we must put forth a supplemental appropriation to provide for the safety of Members and the security of the Capitol.鈥�
Lawmakers from both parties, speaking on Sunday's news shows,
鈥淭here should be a complete investigation about what happened,鈥� said Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump. 鈥淲hat was known, who knew it and when they knew, all that, because that builds the basis so this never happens again.鈥�
Cassidy said he was 鈥渁ttempting to hold President Trump accountable,鈥� and added that as Americans hear all the facts, 鈥渕ore folks will move to where I was.鈥� He was censured by his state鈥檚 party after the vote.
An independent commission along the lines of the one that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks would probably require legislation to create. That would elevate the investigation a step higher, offering a definitive government-backed accounting of events. Still, such a panel would pose risks of sharpening partisan divisions or overshadowing President Joe Biden's legislative agenda.
鈥淭here鈥檚 still more evidence that the American people need and deserve to hear and a
House prosecutors who argued for Trump's conviction of inciting the riot said Sunday they had proved their case. They also railed against the Senate鈥檚 Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, and others who they said were 鈥渢rying to have it both ways鈥� in finding the former president not guilty but criticizing him at the same time.
A close Trump ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., voted for acquittal but acknowledged that Trump had some culpability for the siege at the Capitol that killed five people, including a police officer, and disrupted lawmakers鈥� certification of Biden鈥檚 White House victory. Graham said he looked forward to campaigning with Trump in the 2022 election, when Republicans hope to regain the congressional majority.
鈥淗颈蝉
The Senate acquitted Trump of a charge of 鈥渋ncitement of insurrection鈥� after House prosecutors laid out a case that he was an 鈥渋nciter in chief鈥� who unleashed a mob by stoking a monthslong campaign of spreading debunked conspiracy theories and false violent rhetoric that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Trump鈥檚 lawyers countered that Trump鈥檚 words were not intended to incite the violence and that impeachment was nothing but a 鈥渨itch hunt鈥� designed to prevent him from serving in office again.
The conviction tally was the most bipartisan in American history but left Trump to declare victory and signal a political revival while a bitterly divided GOP bickered over its direction and his place in the party.
The Republicans who joined Cassidy in voting to convict were Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating, but the founders knew what they were doing and so we live with the system that we have,鈥� Democratic Del. Stacey Plaskett, a House prosecutor who represents the Virgin Islands, said of the verdict, describing it as 鈥渉eartbreaking.鈥� She added: 鈥淏ut, listen, we didn鈥檛 need more witnesses. We needed more senators with spines.鈥�
McConnell told Republican senators shortly before the vote that he would vote to acquit Trump. In a blistering speech after the vote, the Kentucky Republican said the president was 鈥減ractically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day" but that the Senate's hands were tied to do anything about it because Trump was out of office. The Senate, in an earlier vote, had deemed the trial
鈥淚t was powerful to hear the 57 guilties and then it was puzzling to hear and see Mitch McConnell stand and say 鈥榥ot guilty鈥� and then, minutes later, stand again and say he was guilty of everything,鈥� said Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa. 鈥淗颈蝉tory will remember that statement of speaking out of two sides of his mouth,鈥� she said.
Dean also backed the idea of an impartial investigative commission "not guided by politics but filled with people who would stand up to the courage of their conviction.鈥�
Cassidy and Dean spoke on ABC's 鈥淭his Week,鈥� Graham appeared on 鈥淔ox 撸奶社区 Sunday,鈥� and Plaskett appeared on CNN's 鈥淪tate of the Union.鈥�
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Associated Press writers Alexandra Jaffe, Lisa Mascaro, Eric Tucker, Mary Clare Jalonick and Alan Fram contributed to this report.
Hope Yen, The Associated Press
