GOP senators call for commission to investigate Capitol attack

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) are calling on Congress to appoint a commission to investigate the deadly breach of the U.S. Capitol. 

The GOP senators are calling for a panel to look into the “massive security failures” that occurred Jan. 6.

“Congress should not be allowed to investigate itself when it comes to the massive security failures of January 6,” the senators wrote in a statement. “We are calling for an independent commission to be appointed to investigate the security failures that allowed the Capitol to be breached on January 6th resulting in five deaths.”  

The senators said that the commission should be of “nationally recognized, non-partisan security experts,” and established in the “spirit of other bipartisan commissions.”

They added that without the independent commission, the investigation would “fall into the familiar territory of partisan squabbles ultimately resolving nothing.”

“The U.S. Capitol is the people’s house and it belongs to the American people. We owe it to them to get to the bottom of this security failure which was a national embarrassment,” the senators said. “A commission is the best opportunity for us to get the answers the American people deserve.” 

The call comes after the attack on the Capitol raised concerns about its security. Five people died in the riot, including a Capitol Police officer and a woman who was shot trying to storm the Speaker’s Lobby outside the House chamber.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) briefly called for a “fact-finding” commission to investigate the attack while the House was debating an article of impeachment against President Trump for inciting the riot. He previously suggested a bipartisan commission in a letter to his GOP colleagues.

The day after the riot, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) vowed there would be a “painstaking investigation and thorough review” of the Capitol’s security protocol.