Poisoned mood in the US Congress: The Democrats are fighting to solve the storming of the Capitol on January 6th. But Republicans loyal to Trump are fundamentally opposed, and so the founding of the committee alone is assuming grotesque proportions.
The state of parliamentary morals in the US was recently demonstrated by a brutal exchange of blows between US top virologist Anthony Fauci and Senator Rand Paul at a hearing before the US Congress. The Republican irritated the generally reticent scientist so much with provocative half- and quarter-truths about Corona research that he openly said to his face: “Mr. Senator, if anyone is lying here, it’s you.” The bizarre consequences of the open hostility between the two camps are also evident in the endless dispute over the investigation into the Capitol Storm.
Attack on the heart of American democracy
For months now, Democrats have been pushing for a committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The supporters of then President Donald Trump stormed the seat of the US Congress in Washington at the beginning of the year. Five people were killed, including a police officer. The attack on the heart of American democracy had deeply shocked the country. But not everyone may be interested in knowing the background in too much detail.
In June the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, announced the formation of a special committee on January 6th. Before that, a non-partisan commission of inquiry based on the model of the “9/11” committee had failed due to the resistance of the Republicans. But the conservatives also defended themselves against the new committee. Since Pelosi, as the highest-ranking politician after the US President, can decide on eight of the 13 members alone, she tricked her in her own way: In addition to her seven party friends, she called the Republican Liz Cheney – a declared opponent of the still influential ex-President Trump .
But the Republicans were angry about that too. Kevin McCarthy, opposition leader in the House of Representatives, was “shocked” by this “unprecedented” incident, he said. Presumably he resents Cheney for her yes in the last impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. Like most Republicans, McCarthy is considered a Trump loyalist. After the appeal, he is said to have even threatened Cheney with expulsion from all parliamentary committees if she accepted the seat. The minority leader later denied that. Regarding the daughter of ex-Vice President Dick Cheney, he remarked coolly: “It seems to me that she may be closer to the Democrats than to us.”
Impeachment proceedings against Trump
The Capitol Storm of January 6th is considered to be the worst attack on the Parliament building in the recent past. Previously, Donald Trump had repeated his unsubstantiated accusation of massive election fraud and asked his audience to march to the Capitol and “fight for the devil”. The then US president had to face impeachment proceedings because of the attack, at the end of which he was acquitted by the votes of the Republican senators.
Since Liz Cheney was apparently not Republican enough for the Republicans, minority leader Kevin McCarthy had nominated five party friends for the committee – all of them are considered to be supporters of the elected president. The list includes Jim Jordan, Jim Banks, Rodney Davis, Kelly Armstrong, and Troy Nehls. Two of them, however, did not want to accept Nancy Pelosi as members: “Out of respect for the integrity of the investigation and concern for the statements and actions of these MPs, she must reject Jim Banks and Jim Jordan as members of the panel,” she says.
Jim Jordan is one of the most ardent Trump supporters. Jim Banks had declared after his nomination that the body should not only investigate the attack on the Capitol on January 6th, but “hundreds of violent political clashes last summer”, for example by “left-wing extremists”. McCarthy defiantly commented on the rejection of his candidates: It was an abuse of power. The committee will not participate if Pelosi does not accept all five candidates. “No committee in Congress will work if one person chooses everyone who can attend,” he said.
Biden: “Stop saying nothing happened on January 6th”
The committee’s first hearing is scheduled for the last week of July. Members of the police force, the Capitol and police officers of the capital Washington are to be heard. Now that time is pressing, the president himself interferes: Addressing McCarthy, Joe Biden said at a town hall meeting in Cincinnati: “I don’t care if you think I’m Satan born again. The fact is, you can’t answer that Watch TV and say nothing happened on January 6th. You can’t listen to people who say it was a peaceful demonstration. “
Sources: “”, DPA, AFP,, “”
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