The top Democrat on the House Administration Committee released a report on Monday seeking to discredit Republican efforts to rewrite the narrative about the January 6 attack on the US Capitol that has taken hold in the party over the last four years.
The report is in direct response to a Republican-led investigation by House GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk that culminated in allegations that GOP former Rep. Liz Cheney should be prosecuted by the FBI for her role in probing the attack.
As Congress prepares to certify the 2024 presidential election, the report released by Democratic Rep. Joseph Morelle underscores that the basic questions of who was responsible for the 2021 attack and how it was subsequently investigated remain politically charged.
Morelle, the leading Democrat on the House Administration Committee, accuses Loudermilk of leading an investigation over the last two years that benefited President-elect Donald Trump instead of working to secure the Capitol to prevent future attacks.
Morelle includes a letter from an attorney representing former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson to refute Loudermilk’s allegations that Cheney colluded with Hutchinson, whose explosive testimony was crucial to the former select committee’s investigation.
“The Loudermilk Report is false in numerous respects, including its suggestion that Ms. Hutchinson and Congresswoman Cheney had any improper communications” Hutchinson’s attorney William H. Jordan wrote in a letter Morelle publicized.
In his report, Morelle said Republicans “failed to produce any new material findings related to Capitol security” and criticized their decision to release Capitol security footage to the general public on Rumble, a third party website, with a first look given to former Fox News Host Tucker Carlson.
Former US Capitol Police Acting Director of Intelligence Julie Farnam outlined to Loudermilk’s subcommittee in June 2024 her concerns about releasing the security footage on Rumble.
Uploading the security footage to Rumble cost more than $250,000 taxpayer funds in the second quarter of 2024, according to committee disbursements Morelle cited.
