By Glynn Wilson –

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection is quietly signaling that former President Donald Trump and other Republicans involved in inciting the seditious assault may not escape scrutiny.

Chairman Bennie G. Thompson, the Democrat from Mississippi, and Vice Chair Liz Cheney, the Republican from Wyoming, issued a joint statement Saturday disavowing a remark from House Minority Leader Keven McCarthy claiming that the FBI and Senate committees have already concluded that the former president had “no involvement” in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“Minority Leader McCarthy has recently made statements regarding the January 6th investigation. He has suggested, based on an anonymous report, that the Department of Justice has concluded that Donald Trump did not cause, incite, or provoke the violence on January 6th,” the statement reads. “When this anonymous report was first published, the Select Committee queried the Executive Branch agencies and congressional committees involved in the investigation. We’ve received answers and briefings from the relevant entities, and it’s been made clear to us that reports of such a conclusion are baseless.”

“We will continue to pursue all elements of this investigation in a nonpartisan and thorough manner. We also remind Minority Leader McCarthy of his statements following January 6th, including his statement from the House Floor on January 13th — which are inconsistent with his recent comments.”

Thompson, as chair of the committee, along with Cheney, is preparing an expanded inquiry into Trump that will scrutinize whether the White House helped plan or had advance knowledge of the insurrection, according to an unnamed source that was used as the basis for a story in the UK Guardian newspaper on Wednesday.

“The move amounts to an escalation for the committee as they embark on an inquiry into the events around the (Jan. 6) assault that could ensnare the former U.S. president and some top allies in the White House and on Capitol Hill, portending an aggressive inquiry with far-reaching ramifications,” the paper reported.

“… for the first time in a congressional inquiry, the committee will also scrutinize whether the White House was involved in efforts to precipitate the Capitol attack – and what Trump knew of such efforts ahead of time, according to a source familiar with the matter.”

Committee Seeks Executive Branch Documents

The committee’s intentions to examine potential White House involvement were telegraphed in part when Thompson last week issued sweeping requests for Trump executive branch records related to the insurrection.

In letters to the National Archives and Records Administration and seven other executive branch agencies, Chairman Thompson renewed and expanded upon the requests of other committees from earlier this year and gave the agencies a two-week deadline to produce the materials, according to a press release from the committee.

“This expansion of the Select Committee’s probe follows the July 27 hearing at which four police officers testified about their experiences on January 6th defending the U.S. Capitol in the face of a violent mob aiming to derail the peaceful transfer of power. The officers’ call to action underscored the importance of the Select Committee’s mandate to uncover the facts about January 6th and its causes and to help ensure such an attack on American democracy cannot happen again,” the document demand stated.

The letter demands a wide range of White House records from the previous administration and encourages the archivist of the United States, David Ferriero, to use his authority under the Code of Federal Regulations to expedite the Select Committee’s request.

“The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol is examining the facts, circumstances, and causes of the January 6th attack. 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,” Thompson wrote.

Letters to seven other agencies are seeking records dealing with a range of matters relevant to the Jan. 6 assault and the run-up to that day’s violence, including the gathering and dissemination of intelligence in advance of the mass attack. The committee is also interested in examining the advance security preparations around the Capitol, along with the role agencies played in the defense of the building and grounds on that day. The committee is interested in records related to any planning and organization of events in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5 and 6, and how the Jan. 6 events fit in the continuum of efforts to subvert the rule of law, overturn the results of the Nov. 3, 2020 election, or otherwise impede the peaceful transfer of power.

In addition to the national archives, record demands were also sent to the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the F.B.I, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Counterterrorism Center, and in an interesting twist, the Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service charged with managing the grounds around the White House and the National Mall, where the “Stop the Steal” rally was permitted.

Thompson said investigators are seeking documents and communications from the previous administration related to the Jan. 6 attack, including communications of White House personnel and members of Congress that referred to attacks on the Capitol – on both the day of the insurrection as well as key dates before.

Committee Seeks Social Media Documents

In another bold move, the committee this week also demanded records from social media companies.

Chairman Thompson set a two-week deadline for the companies to produce records related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol from 15 social media companies. In letters to the companies, Thompson is demanding records related to the spread of misinformation, efforts to overturn the 2020 election or prevent the certification of the results, domestic violent extremism, and foreign influence in the 2020 election, according to the press release.

Google, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are included in the records demand, as well as 4chan, 8kun (formerly known as 8chan), Gab, Parler, Reddit, Snapchat, Telegram, Tik-Tok, Twitch, Zello and the website theDonald.win.

White House aides and members of Congress were among those who huddled in the Trump Hotel in Washington on the evening of Jan. 5 to pressure more Republicans to object to the electoral college results and push then-Vice-president Mike Pence to reject Biden’s Electoral College certification, according to previous reporting, including Alabama’s freshman Senator Tommy Tuberville.

Capitol Insurrection Investigation Update Week 3: Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville Implicated in Plot

The meetings alarmed some White House aides, the Guarian’s source said, because they feared it could leave White House aides vulnerable to charges that the administration was involved in plans to violently intimidate federal officials from carrying out the transition of power, a potential crime.

House select committee investigators are poised to examine whether Trump – who Republican senator Ben Sasse was told was “delighted” at images showing rioters storming the Capitol – contributed to such deliberations.

A spokesperson for the committee declined to comment officially on the direction of the investigation.

“But taken together, the committee’s moves mark a politically treacherous turning point for the former president and his supporters on Capitol Hill,” according to The Guardian.

House and Senate Republicans in June blocked the creation of a 9/11-style commission into the Capital attack for fear it could show the GOP’s role in promulgating Trump’s lies about a stolen election, inciting the rioters, and prove damaging in the 2022 midterms.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, and the top Republican on the House judiciary committee, Jim Jordan, were already certain to face scrutiny over their separate phone calls to Trump on Jan. 6.

But far from avoiding a close accounting of the insurrection, the dooming of the commission opened an avenue for House speaker Nancy Pelosi to impanel a select committee and start an inquiry overseen by some of Trump’s fiercest critics in Congress.

The list of Republicans who could face investigation include Jordan along with Republican members of Congress such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Mo Brooks, Madison Cawthorn, Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert, Jody Hice and Scott Perry.

Enraged at the sharpening contours of the committee’s inquiry, which raises the prospect of an embarrassing airing of Trump’s private attempts to reinstall himself in the Oval Office, the former president threatened last week to block its efforts.

“Executive privilege will be defended, not just on behalf of my administration and the patriots who worked beside me, but on behalf of the office of the president of the United States and the future of our nation,” Trump said in a statement.

No Executive Privilege

It was not clear whether invoking executive privilege would be successful, according to The Guardian, and the Justice Department had previously declined to assert the protection over Jan. 6 testimony after the White House office of legal counsel determined it did not exist to benefit private interests.

The department had already declined to defend Republican members of Congress acting outside their legislative branch capacities, including Mo Brooks, who is seeking a Senate seat in Alabama to replace retiring Senator Richard Shelby.

U.S. Justice Department Declines to Defend Mo Brooks in Capitol Insurrection Lawsuit

The National Archives acknowledged earlier this month on CNN that they were in possession of records and communications from the Trump administration and indicated that they would comply with records requests from Congress.

Even as Trump threatened to mount court challenges against the investigation, House select committee investigators are expected to exercise a broad mandate that mirrors the framework used by Republicans for the select committee into the 2012 terror attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

Steve Bannon

But so far there is no word from the committee indicating whether one of the loudest voices urging Donald Trump’s supporters to push for overturning the presidential election results might be included in the investigation, namely Steve Bannon, who was pardoned by Trump and released from jail on charges that he defrauded contributors to a fake GoFundMe to allegedly raise money to help build a wall between Mexico and the U.S. on the southern border.

Heeding Steve Bannon’s Call, Election Deniers Organize to Seize Control of the GOP — and Reshape America’s Elections

Capitol Police

So far there is no indication that the committee will be looking into the role of some Capitol Police officers who were clearly complicit and in collusion with letting some insurrectionists in the building, including the Qanon Shaman who pleaded guilty Friday and agreed to serve a couple of years time.

Capitol Insurrectionist Known as the QAnon Shaman Pleads Guilty to One Felony Count – Jacob Chansley Could Face Two Years in the Federal Pen, and Some Say That’s Not Nearly Enough –

Related: Capitol Police Officers Face Investigation for Role in Capitol Insurrection

Stand Down, Inside Job

There is no indication whether the committee will investigate the attack as an “inside job,” with “stand down” orders issued by the president to military officials still under the direction of the commander-in-chief on Jan. 6, or by the leadership of the House and Senate Sargents at Arms.

Inside Job: Were the U.S. Military and Capitol Police Ordered to ‘Stand Down’ to Allow Trump’s Mob to Storm the Capitol?

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