From the outset, the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol has been marred by political motives and malfeasance, making it unlikely the vast majority of Americans will have confidence in the committee's ultimate findings.
In fact, before the hearings even began, the committee was tinged by partisan politics when Speaker Nancy Pelosi defied protocol and refused to seat two of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's picks for the committee -- Reps. Jim Banks, of Indiana, and Jim Jordan, of Ohio -- and instead chose Reps. Adam Kinzinger, of Illinois,and Liz Cheney, of Wyoming.
While Banks and Jordan would have added a semblance of balance and credibility to the nine-person committee (which consists of seven Democrats and two Republicans), Pelosi nixed both and replaced them with two of the most anti-Trump Republicans in Congress.
Instead of getting to the bottom of what occurred on Jan. 6, 2021, the committee is interested only in scoring political points with the public and deterring Trump from potentially running for the presidency in 2024. For instance, why is the committee ignoring that President Donald Trump approved the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops to the U.S. Capitol in the days leading up to Jan. 6?
Why is the committee not questioning Pelosi and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser about why they did not increase security at the Capitol in the days before Jan. 6 after they were briefed that viable security threats existed?
Why is the committee overlooking the single death that occurred that day during the so-called insurrection? On Jan. 6, a Capitol Hill police officer killed Ashli Babbitt at point-blank range, even though she posed no immediate threat and was unarmed at the time of her death.
Why does the committee seem disinterested in the fact Capitol Hill police officers allowed hundreds of so-called insurrectionists to enter the Capitol during the chaos that ensued after the initial breach?
And why is the committee not investigating the pipe bombs found at the Republican National Committee headquarters and the Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before Jan. 6?
Perhaps the reason the committee is ignoring these questions is that the committee is not interested in finding the full, unvarnished truth about what happened on Jan. 6. Perhaps the committee is solely interested in using the pomp and pageantry of its seven hearings to distract the American public from the awful economy and all the other problems Americans believe are far worthier of congressional hearings and actions. And perhaps the committee is well-aware the midterm elections are expected to result in an overwhelming red wave, so they are doing everything they can to tar and feather their political opponents before they lose control of Congress.
Whatever the case may be, it is clear the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol is a crass political endeavor that is unlikely to resonate with the majority of the American people, who know Jan. 6 was a stain on the country that could have been avoided in the first place but is now being used for political gamesmanship on behalf of congressional Democrats.
Chris Talgo is senior editor at The Heartland Institute. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.