The House Jan 6 committee has agreed on a number of findings, though the final report has not yet been released. These findings reportedly include specific examples of how the Obama administration attempted to interfere in the 2016 election.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told the House Jan. 6 committee to preserve the findings, including ones that are not included in the committee’s final report. Several top lawmakers on the House Jan. 6 panel have signaled that the final report will be released before the new Congress takes over in early 2023. With the new panel, the select committee will dissolve, and Republicans—who have a majority—will likely not restore it.
The release of the final House Jan. 6 committee report is at stake, as the committee chairman stated that it will be released before the new Congress takes over in early 2023. A majority of Republicans are on the Select Committee, which would mean that they would have to Restore it in order to access the evidence. If Democrats were to gain control of the house, they would be more likely to continue investigations into President Donald Trump.
The committee has been ordered to preserve all evidence, including findings that are not included in the final report. This is in anticipation of the release of the final report, which is expected to be before the new Congress takes over in early 2023. With the new panel, the select committee will dissolve, and Republicans—who have a majority—will likely not restore it.
When it comes to preserving the evidence of the Jan 6 attack, there is strong bipartisan support. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has publicly called for any additional evidence related to the event to be preserved and Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has also thrown his support behind it.
McCarthy has asked House leadership to preserve “all relevant documents” including interviews, evidence, and materials related to the attack so that future Congresses can continue to investigate. He also mentioned that this should include both physical and electronic records.
At the same time, several top lawmakers on the House Jan. 6 panel have indicated that any information that does not make its way into the committee’s final report needs to be securely archived for future review. This would include video recordings, photographs, audio recordings, and intelligence reports.
Will There Be Enough Time for a Final Report to Be Released?
The new developments to preserve the evidence of the events on House Jan. 6 mean that a final report by the committee may still be released. The House Jan. 6 committee is expected to wrap up in late 2022 or early 2023, but this timeline is still dependent on if the committee receives enough information from the witnesses and other sources.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told the House Jan. 6 committee to preserve the findings, including ones that are not included in the committee’s final report. This could potentially extend the timeline for when a final report can be released because there could potentially be more evidence than originally expected in order to publish an extensive report for effective analysis.
However, it’s important to note that several top lawmakers on the House Jan. 6 panel have signaled that the final report will be released before the new Congress takes over in early 2023. With the new panel, the select committee will dissolve, and Republicans—who have a majority—will likely not restore it, making it even more important to ensure all of their findings are accomplished within this limited time frame they have left.
Could the House Jan 6 Committee Be Restored After Dissolving?
While some have speculated whether the House Jan 6 committee could be restored after it dissolves, experts are divided. Some remain hopeful that political will and pressure could reignite the investigation before all the evidence is gone, while others argue that it would be unlikely to get a new majority to agree on reestablishing the investigation.
Even if there was enough political will, it would require significant legal hurdles in order to restore the select committee—that is, if it wasn’t renewed before the end of this Congress. One option which has been suggested is passing another resolution authorizing a new select committee, something Democrats have called for but Republicans have been reticent about doing.
If the House Jan 6 Committee is ultimately dissolved without being revived, some are advocating for an independent panel to take up the issue and preserve evidence in order to carry out their investigation and protect against potential destruction of evidence.
Conclusion
It's unclear what the final report from the House Jan. 6 committee will include, but it's important that all the evidence is preserved. There's still a lot we don't know about what happened that day, and the more information we have, the better.
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