US House launches new investigation into Capitol riot

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the creation of a new committee to investigate the breach of the US Capitol in January by supporters of former President Donald Trump. 

All 220 Democrats in the chamber, along with two Republicans, voted in favor of the measure. The panel was opposed by 190 House Republicans. 

What will the panel do?

The committee will look at the causes of the Capitol breach and examine future steps to ensure such an event does not happen again.

Eight of the members on the panel will be chosen by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with five members selected by Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

The panel will have subpoena power and will be able to call witnesses. The committee will have to decide whether it will pursue litigation to enforce the subpoenas if witnesses do not comply.

Pelosi told lawmakers ahead of the vote that "we will be judged by future generations as to how we value our democracy." 

Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the "American people deserve to know the truth about what happened on January 6."

House Republican John Katko called the panel a "turbocharged partisan exercise" due to its likely Democratic majority.

A Pelosi aide said the speaker may choose a Republican as one of her appointees.

House panel comes after similar commission fails in Senate 

The creation of the House panel comes after Senate Republicans last month blocked the formation of a similar commission to investigate the riot. 

This 9/11-style commission would have been evenly split between Democrats and Republicans.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the commission would be "extraneous" and a "purely political exercise." He noted that two bipartisan Senate committees are already looking into the events on January 6.

President Joe Biden and other Democratic leaders condemned Republicans for obstructing the commisssion. 

The breach of the Capitol building in January left five people dead and injured at least 140 others.

The rioting Trump supporters were angry that then-Democratic president-elect Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. They stormed the building after Trump gave a speech to the supporters, where he claimed without evidence the Democrats rigged the election against him.

The Democratic-majority House then impeached Trump for a second time on charges of inciting the riot. The former president was ultimately acquitted of the charges in the Senate. 

wd/aw (AP, Reuters)