Jan. 6 Select Committee Demands Records From Federal Agencies, Executive Branch

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol, during a panel hearing in Washington on July 27, 2021. Oliver Contreras/Pool/Getty Images

The House of Representatives panel formed to investigate the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach is demanding records from eight executive branch agencies, including the National Archives and Records Administration.

Letters sent to the agencies on Aug. 25 seek documents and communications related to the run-up to and the events of Jan. 6.

For instance, the missive (pdf) to the National Archives asks for all materials linked “in any way” to remarks that then-President Donald Trump or other people made on Jan. 6, including comments at a rally that morning.

The Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of the Interior, the Justice Department, the FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence also were sent letters demanding information the panel believes will assist in its investigation.

“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,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the committee’s chairman, wrote in one of the letters.

The FBI, DHS, and National Archives acknowledged receipt of the letters to The Epoch Times.

“We have been and will continue to work with the House Select Committee and other congressional committees,” an FBI spokesperson said via email.

The DHS and National Archives said they would respond via official channels.

Thompson told reporters this week that the panel will also request records of members of Congress, although he declined to identify any of the members, along with other people.

“We have quite an exhaustive list of people, I won’t tell you who they are, but it’s several hundred people that make up the list of individuals we plan to contact,” Thompson said at the Capitol.

The announcement by Thompson, whose nine-member panel includes only two Republicans, drew some opposition.

“This is an abuse by the Congress that we’ve never seen before. That Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, would abuse her power—weaponizing Congress in the process—to spy on her political opponents is something that is unthinkable in our system of government,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

“When we win back the majority next year, we have a duty as Republicans to hold every member of this committee accountable for this abuse of power, for stepping over the line, by preventing them from being in positions of authority. Take them off any committee, get them as far away from positions of power as you can.”