House Republican says DOJ should investigate Jan. 6, not ‘politically appointed’ commission

Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul on Sunday defended his vote against legislation to create a commission to probe the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, arguing that the Department of Justice (DOJ) should investigate the insurrection and not a “politically appointed” commission.

When asked by host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” why he voted against the creation of an independent commission to investigate the Capitol breach by supporters of former President Trump, McCaul said Congress should instead wait for the DOJ to complete its criminal investigation, which he said would not be “tainted by politics.”

“I view this not as an overview of policy, like the 9/11 Commission did. It’s a criminal investigation, a criminal case. In my judgment, that properly falls within the purview of the Department of Justice, where I worked for many years, rather than a politically appointed, you know, commission,” McCaul said.

McCaul, a former federal prosecutor, said that once the DOJ completes its investigation, the findings should be delivered to Congress.

“Let’s let this DOJ investigation go forward. They’ve arrested over 400 people now responsible. I want those responsible to be held accountable and put behind bars, and I want all the answers as to what happened on Jan. 6, and then report it to Congress,” McCaul said.

“Congress should have a full report of this DOJ investigation that I don’t believe will be tainted by politics, whereas some other methods could be. I think the DOJ, having been a part of that for so long, really is where this properly should be to get to the bottom of what happened and then really get to prosecuting and putting these people behind bars,” he added.

Senate Republicans on Friday blocked the passage of a bill that aimed to create an independent commission to probe the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in a 54-35 vote.

Six GOP senators crossed party lines and voted for the commission: Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mitt Romney (Utah), Susan Collins (Maine), Bill Cassidy (La.), Rob Portman (Ohio) and Ben Sasse (Neb.).

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) missed the vote because of a family commitment, but a spokesperson from his office said he would have supported the legislation “with the expectation that the Senate would consider and Sen. Toomey would have supported” GOP amendments.

Even with Toomey’s support, however, the bill still lacked the 10 GOP Senators needed to pass.

The bill cleared the House in a 252-175 vote earlier this month, with 35 Republicans supporting the legislation.

According to the DOJ, the department has arrested and charged more than 440 people for their roles in the Capitol attack.