US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the Congress will establish an “outside, independent” commission to investigate US Capitol riots that occurred on January 6 carried out by Donald Trump’s supporters.
Pelosi wrote a letter to lawmakers saying the commission would be modeled on the inquiry into the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon. She stressed over the gravity of the matter saying,
“We must get to the truth of how this happened.”
Pelosi said over the past few weeks US Army Lieutenant General Russel Honoré had been assessing the security needs of the Capitol in light of the attack.
“It is clear from his findings and from the impeachment trial that we must get to the truth of how this happened,”
said Pelosi
Pelosi added,
“[The commission] would investigate and report on the facts and causes [of the attack], the interference with the peaceful transfer of power, [and the] preparedness and the response [of both the Capitol police and other branches of law enforcement].”
Madam speaker said that based on the findings of General Honoré, Congress needed to allocate more funding to “provide for the safety of members and the security of the Capitol”.
Former US President Donald Trump has recently faced a second impeachment trial in which he was acquitted by the Senate after Democrat prosecutors failed to secure the two-thirds majority needed to convict him.
The vote split largely along party lines, with the seven Republicans joining the Senate’s 48 Democrats and two independents in voting to convict. However, Democrats and some Republicans have supported an independent inquiry into the riots, which left five people dead.
