United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday announced that lawmakers will set up an independent panel to review the “facts and causes” related to the violence at the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump, Reuters reported. The former president was acquitted at his second Senate impeachment trial, which found him not guilty of inciting the violence on January 6.
In a letter to to lawmakers, Pelosi said that the commission would be modeled on a similar one convened after the September 11, 2001, attack on New York and the Pentagon. The panel, she said, will look at the “facts and causes relating to the preparedness and response of the United States Capitol Police and other federal, state, and local law enforcement”.
The speaker informed her Democratic colleagues that the House will also spend additional funds to boost security at the Capitol. She has tasked retired US Army Lieutenant General Russel Honoré with assessing security needs of the Capitol in the aftermath of the attack.
Pelosi added: “It is clear from his findings and from the impeachment trial [of Trump] that we must get to the truth of how this happened.”
More than 200 people have been charged with federal crimes in the assault on Congress, which led to Trump’s impeachment trial. Trump was acquitted on February 13 on a vote of 57-43, as seven Republican senators joined Democrats in favor of conviction, though short of the required majority.
“There should be a complete investigation about what happened,” said Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump, according to AP. “What was known, who knew it and when they knew, all that, because that builds the basis so this never happens again.”
President Joe Biden’s ally, Senator Chris Coons, said the administration will “lay bare the record of just how responsible and how abjectly violating of his constitutional oath President Trump really was”.
Meanwhile, bolstered by his acquittal, Trump is preparing for the next phase of his post-presidency life as he explores his options to to reassert his power. Trump’s friends and allies told AP that he is likely to resume friendly media interviews after weeks of silence. “I imagine you’ll probably be hearing a lot more from him in the coming days,” Senior Adviser Jason Miller said.
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