In his opening statement of the first public hearing, Jan. 6 committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) reminded listeners of the different, and likely more toothless, version of the panel he and his fellow Democrats were clamoring for around this time last summer.
"My colleagues and I all wanted an outside, independent commission to investigate January 6th, similar to what we had after 9/11," he said. "But after first agreeing to the idea, Donald Trump's allies in Congress put a stop to it. Apparently, they don't want January 6th investigated at all."
It's a callback to a time when short-sighted Republicans saved Democrats from a version of the fact-finding effort that Trump's allies could have much more easily obstructed.
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Back then, as Thompson recalled, Democrats hungered for a commission in the vaunted 9/11 model — resolutely bipartisan and largely unanimous. Most Republicans, after some initial and short-lived endorsement of a theoretical independent commission, didn't really want to investigate the insurrection at all beyond a superficial look at Capitol security weak spots.
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Still, Reps. John Katko (R-NY) and Thompson, leaders of the House Homeland Security committee, got to work outlining the contours of an independent commission in spring 2021. The former reportedly did so at House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) behest.
See Also: NBC Washington Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor and former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade join Andrea Mitchell to discuss key challenges facing the January 6 Committee ahead of their primetime hearings this week: getting a "distracted nation" to pay attention and understand what's at stake. "I think the biggest challenge for lawmakers here, as they talk about these sort of huge ideas of American democracy and sort of the experiment that we're all living in, benefiting from, possibly being brought to his knees, is whether or not they can make people care," says Alcindor. "The American public has been groomed to expect high value quick entertainment," says McQuade. "I think putting together a polished show can be very important."
Their design was so emphatically collaborative that it would have given the recalcitrant Republicans extensive control over the investigation: Republican cooperation was required to issue each subpoena; the commission's final report was due not later than the last day of 2021, well before the midterms; the non-lawmaker appointees would have been evenly split between the two parties, increasing the chances of a partisan schism.
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"I ask you to set aside politics just this once," Katko implored his colleagues from the House floor, banging on the lectern to punctuate his words. "Just this once — I beg you — and pass this bill."
But Republican leadership had turned on the idea. McCarthy, at the eleventh hour, urged his members to vote against the legislation he'd asked Katko to help draft. Thirty-five of them voted for it anyway.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), too, pressured his members to oppose the bill. Republican leadership found it easier, on the whole, to write Katko out of the story, the better to decry the panel as a brainchild of Democratic leadership.
"I've made the decision to oppose the House Democrats' slanted and unbalanced proposal for another commission to study the events of January the 6th," McConnell said from the Senate floor.
Six Republicans ignored his guidance, four fewer than were needed to overcome the filibuster.
And the independent commission, one which Republicans could have manipulated far more easily than its current iteration, was dead. Katko announced that he'd retire from the House a few months later.
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With the Senate effectively out of the picture, the drama moved back to the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) could unilaterally set up a select committee staffed by current lawmakers.
With Republicans having rejected a format much more amenable to their interests, Democrats had all the advantages. Pelosi would appoint 13 members, though she'd "consult" with McCarthy on five of them. Her chosen chair would have unilateral subpoena power, and the committee could take all the time it wanted on the investigation.
McCarthy announced his picks: Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Jim Banks (R-IN), Troy Nehls (R-TX), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) and Rodney Davis (R-IL). Pelosi rejected the Jims.
Jordan and Banks, along with Nehls who she okayed, had voted against certifying the 2020 Electoral College vote. All five Republicans voted against impeaching then-President Donald Trump after the insurrection.
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"With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members, I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee," Pelosi said in a statement.
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In a fit of pique, McCarthy held a high-volume press conference, declaring that if the Reps. Jims couldn't serve, none of his picks would. An indignant Nehls, waving his prop inches from McCarthy's face, pointed out that he'd already prepared a binder and everything.
See Also: NBC Washington Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor and former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade join Andrea Mitchell to discuss key challenges facing the January 6 Committee ahead of their primetime hearings this week: getting a "distracted nation" to pay attention and understand what's at stake. "I think the biggest challenge for lawmakers here, as they talk about these sort of huge ideas of American democracy and sort of the experiment that we're all living in, benefiting from, possibly being brought to his knees, is whether or not they can make people care," says Alcindor. "The American public has been groomed to expect high value quick entertainment," says McQuade. "I think putting together a polished show can be very important."
Pelosi, who by that point had appointed Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) to the committee, shrugged. The committee would be bipartisan either way, she pointed out. A few days after McCarthy withdrew the rest of his picks, Pelosi appointed Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) as well.
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"Our members all regret that the initial hope for an independent commission to investigate this was derailed by allies to the former president after details were agreed by both parties," a Jan. 6 committee aide told reporters last week.
The members may regret it. But the American people, who are learning details and connections unearthed by a serious panel featuring Republicans who lack the power and desire to derail the investigation in favor of their party's political prospects, are better for it.
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