The FBI has made clear that it has no interest in participating in a non-partisan investigation into the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
Mollie Hemingway and Tristan Justice of The Federalist reported that the FBI refused to provide Republican investigators “the same information provided to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s hand-picked committee consisting only of Democrat-appointed members.”
Pelosi formed the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol on July 1, 2021, but refused to seat two Republican members–Indiana Rep. Jim Banks and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan–selected by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, leading McCarthy to abandon the “sham process” and launch his own investigation.
On Sept. 16, Banks sent a letter to the FBI:
“Pursuant to the rules of the House of Representatives, the minority party in Congress retains rights to the same information that is provided to the majority party,” he wrote.
“For those reasons, I ask that you provide me any information that is submitted to the Select Committee,” he continued. “Additionally, please include me on any update or briefing that you provide.”
The FBI responded on Oct. 8:
“The FBI is working with the Select Committee on an ongoing basis, consistent with House Resolution 503. We respectfully refer you to the Select Committee regarding issues of access to records and information.”
According to Hemingway and Justice, the FBI’s refusal to give the minority party equal access allows Pelosi carte blanche to “pursue a preferred political narrative”:
“Democrats’ committee was ostensibly created ‘to investigate and report upon’ the objective ‘facts and causes relating to the preparedness and response of the United States Capitol Police and other Federal, State, and local law enforcement’ in the course of the Capitol riot as outlined by the committee’s establishing resolution,” they said.
“Yet Pelosi’s commission has instead targeted private citizens who exercised their constitutional right of free assembly by applying for and receiving a permit to hold a peaceful protest on the day of the riot,” they continued. “The constitutionality of the committee is in question, since Congress is not one of the branches of government tasked with investigating alleged crimes of private citizens.”
Incidentally, Twitter has suspended Rep. Banks’ account after he “misgendered” Health and Human Services assistant secretary Rachel Levine, who according to CBS News became “the first openly transgender four-star officer in any of the nation’s eight uniformed services.”
