It was the investigation that never was.
After months of talk, the independent commission to investigate the events surrounding January 6 is now on life support, likely to fail in the US Senate as soon as next week when Republicans are expected to filibuster the legislation. Behind the scenes, mistrust, disinterest and raw political considerations all contributed to Republicans ultimately moving to kill a January 6 commission that was once heralded by both sides as an important step in understanding one of the darkest days at the Capitol in US history. The effort is poised to become another casualty left in the wake of a bitterly divided Congress and GOP members allegiance to former President Donald Trump, lawmakers and aides tell CNN. There’s plenty of finger pointing on both sides, the swift Republican moves to scuttle the effort, undercutting the House GOP lawmaker who negotiated the deal, was driven by the political considerations heading into the midterms and the fact that Trump — whose role leading up to January 6 would be a key part of the commission’s work — is central to Republicans’ plans to win back control Congress. The deal was announced a week ago, but the members negotiating it had been close to striking an agreement even longer than that. On the cusp of a deal After months of little progress, House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson briefed the Democratic leadership on May 8 about his progress with John Katko, the committee’s top Republican who hailed from a district that had voted for both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections and one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. The two men tasked with striking a deal on the commission were close to an agreement, Thompson said, according to a source familiar with the call. There were other considerations, however, Thompson told his team. Katko wanted to wait to announce a deal until after Rep. Liz Cheney was ousted from her House GOP leadership position. The week before Cheney had broken with her leadership, arguing that the January 6 commission needed to have a narrow scope, not a broad one exploring all political violence over the year like GOP leaders had wanted. «As soon as the vote on Liz Cheney is taken, he will be prepared to do a joint press statement,» Thompson said, according to the source. On May 11, one day before the House GOP conference removed Cheney from her leadership position, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responding to her last offer. The letter, which was obtained by CNN has not been previously reported, shows that McCarthy and Pelosi did have dialogue on the commission even as Thompson and Katko were deputized to make a deal. The letter, however, also laid the groundwork for McCarthy’s ultimate opposition. He once again said that the scope of the commission should look at political violence beyond January 6, and he also said that the commission should conclude its work by November 1, a tight window to hit. ‘I’m gonna look through it’ Moments after Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, was elected to become the new GOP conference chairwoman, the statement announcing a bipartisan deal on the commission between Thompson and Katko was released, a major development. But the GOP leader who had just played a key role pushing Cheney out the door and replacing her with Stefanik wasn’t enthusiastic. Swarmed by reporters, McCarthy wasn’t prepared to weigh in definitively. «I’m gonna look through it,» McCarthy told reporters scrumming around him. «We had an officer killed on Good Friday. If this commission is going to come forth to tell us how to protect this facility in the future, you want to make sure that in the scope you can look at all that.» Asked point blank if he had signed off on the final deal before the release went out, McCarthy said «no, no, no.» Was that a problem, he was asked. «No,» he replied. Behind the scenes, Katko had been briefing the minority leader regularly on how talks with Thompson were going, aides say. The two members were close colleagues and McCarthy had given his blessing to Katko to negotiate with Thompson directly. But, McCarthy had also been clear that he wanted final sign off before any final deal was agreed to. Just days before the release went out, Katko walked McCarthy through what he was thinking, a source told CNN. But, McCarthy raised some concerns, specifically about the scope that would be allowed in the commission. On Friday, the deal was announced, but McCarthy had not give his final OK. «It was a case of an over-invested chairman,» one GOP aide told CNN.
