Almost every single Democrat who spoke Wed. in favor of establishing a 9/11-like commission to investigate the events that unfolded at the US Capitol on Jan. 6 also compared it to the devastation of 9/11.
Not only was this rhetoric insulting to Americans, it is another Big Lie.
The September 11, 2001 attacks on our nation killed 2,977 people, 19 hijackers committed murder-suicide and more than 6,000 others were injured in the deadliest terrorist act in world history. The immediate deaths included 265 people on the four planes, 2,606 in the World Trade Center and surrounding area and 125 at the Pentagon.
The only person who died on Jan. 6 was Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed military veteran who was shot inside the Capitol. No one has been charged with carrying weapons and no one has been charged with treason, sedition or insurrection.
The one-hour debate of the legislation was a tedious exercise in partisan political theater and hyperbole, where Democrats not only compared Jan. 6 to 9/11 but continued to repeat the debunked lie that Capitol Officer Brian Sicknick was killed in the line of duty defending the Capitol.
Sicknick was first believed to have died after being hit on the head with a fire extinguisher. The media later floated false stories that he died of chemical spray. However, the D.C. Medical Examiner’s Office admitted that Sicknick died of a stroke caused by blood clots and the autopsy did not find he died from a reaction to chemical spray.
Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said, “I rise today on behalf of . . . the Capitol Police and the late Brian Sicknick. The seat of our democracy [was] breached and invaded by a mob of incensed bloodthirsty individuals, sycophants all.”
Despite hours of video footage showing Capitol police officers inviting protesters into the building, Democrats continued the lie that there was a major insurrection at the Capitol.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) called the events “pure savagery,” and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said protesters who entered the Capital created “one of the worst political crimes to have ever happened.”
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, Homeland Security Commission Chair said the events on Jan. 6 were an “attempted murder” of former Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), who sponsored the bill, closed out the debate by scolding Republicans who wanted a bi-partisan resolution saying he had delivered it. McGovern said of the protesters, “They were there to hurt people and decimate this building.”
The bill passed by 252-175 with 35 Republicans supporting the bill. However, it is uncertain if the bill will pass the Senate.
Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, who had said on Tues. he would be open-minded about the resolution, flipped on Wed., saying he will not support it.
“After careful consideration, I’ve made the decision to oppose the House Democrats’ slanted and unbalanced proposal for another commission to study the events of Jan. 6.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) came out earlier against the bill and urged Republicans to vote against it.
While the Democrats were eager to establish the commission, it was clear that they wanted to use the protests that day to further punish their political enemies. The federal inquiry into the events of that day are already one of the nation’s largest investigations.
According to an April CNN report, “The massive federal inquiry has added several defendants nearly each day since the attack, and federal prosecutors said in a recent court filing that they expect to charge at least 500 people”
If the House Democrats wanted evidence of what happened that day, they should be demanding the release of the 1,400 hours of surveillance tape that covered the events of that day and question why the Justice Department is seeking to strong arm defense counsel into agreeing that materials produced through discovery related to the investigation be subject to a protective order.