(Bloomberg) — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol is demanding a sweeping list of records and other information from eight executive branch agencies, including communications involving the White House and associates of former President Donald Trump.
The select committee is seeking information to fill out details about the insurrections and the days leading up to the violence, which disrupted a joint session of Congress called to certify the electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election.
“Our Constitution provides for a peaceful transfer of power, and this investigation seeks to evaluate threats to that process, identify lessons learned and recommend laws, policies, procedures, rules, or regulations necessary to protect our republic in the future,” the committee’s chairman, Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson, wrote in letters to the agencies.
The letters from the committee were sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the departments of Justice, Defense, Homeland Security and Interior, as well as the National Archives and Records Administration and intelligence agencies.
The committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans is seeking, among other things, communications within the White House and among executive branch agencies during the lead-up to the Jan. 6 insurrection. It also is requesting records to determine whether there was any executive branch involvement in the planning, organization or funding of rallies for Trump supporters in Washington on Jan. 5 and 6.
Impeachment Trial
House Democrats impeached Trump on charges of inciting the mob with false claims of election fraud. He was acquitted by the Senate after leaving office.
The panel also is trying to determine if agencies like the FBI, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Counterterrorism Center failed to adequately act on the information they had about possible threats from pro-Trump groups seeking to overturn the election results.
From the Defense Department, the committee is seeking records of any discussions pertaining to the Insurrection Act, invoking martial law or “potential use of the military to impede or ensure the peaceful transfer of power,” according to a release.
Thompson said earlier this week that the committee would be asking telecommunications companies and social media platforms for phone, text and other communications records of hundreds of people, including members of Congress.
Republicans have denounced the committee’s work as politically motivated, aimed at damaging the GOP before the 2022 midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy refused to participate in the committee after Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of his choices for the panel. Pelosi then picked two Republicans, Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who voted to impeach Trump and have been critical of his role in the insurrection, for the panel.
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