Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Sunday called on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to create a new Jan. 6 select committee she said would target the original members of the panel and exonerate the so-called “MAGA” wing of the Republican Party from blame associated with the 2021 attack on the Capitol.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Greene outlined her vision for the committee. She said it must issue subpoenas to the original committee members, to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and to the witnesses who testified.
“I’m calling on @SpeakerJohnson to create a January 6th Select Committee,” Greene wrote in her post on X. “Releasing the tapes is not enough!”
“There needs to be investigations and ACCOUNTABILITY for ALL of the lies, deceit, and lives ruined,” she added.
Johnson announced Friday he would begin releasing thousands of hours of security footage from Jan. 6, 2021, when thousands of pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol, attempting to stop the certification of President Biden’s election.
“This decision will provide millions of Americans, criminal defendants, public interest organizations, and the media an ability to see for themselves what happened that day, rather than having to rely upon the interpretation of a small group of government officials,” Johnson said in announcing the release.
More than 1,100 people have been charged in connection to the Capitol insurrection.
A House panel probed the attack and provided mountains of evidence connecting former President Trump to it. At the end of the panel’s probe, members voted unanimously to recommend the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigate Trump for incitement of an insurrection, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement and obstruction of an official proceeding.
While the criminal referrals were largely symbolic at the time, subsequent reporting suggests the DOJ decided to investigate Trump’s efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election because of the public hearings the House panel held, presenting their evidence in a compelling narrative.
Trump is facing federal and state-level charges over his efforts to remain in power after losing to Biden, among multiple other criminal charges.
Greene said in her post that her goal with the new committee would be to ultimately make similar referrals and, under a theoretical Trump second term, launch investigations.
“Criminal referrals must be written and prosecutions MUST happen under a Trump DOJ,” she wrote. “I’ve said it all along, MAGA did not do this.”