ARGUMENT: Insurrection investigationNine Questions for the Capitol Insurrection Commission
In the days since the Jan. 6 insurrection, calls have proliferated for a national commission to report on the riot and its attendant events. “The calls are understandable and worthy—though some hard thinking is needed before launching any investigation,” Daniel Byman and Benjamin Wittes write. There is “a lot of sense to a high-level and broad inquiry by an independent commission to explore and report on the multifaceted aspects of Jan. 6 that have nothing to do with impeachment or criminal conduct,” they write. They offer a list of at least some of the questions that any commission will need to consider.
In the days since the Jan. 6 insurrection, calls have proliferated for a national commission to report on the riot and its attendant events. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced that there is “strong interest” among members of Congress for creating a commission, much like the one that studied the 9/11 attacks, to investigate the insurrection. And Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Ron Johnson have also called for an independent panel to examine the security failures that allowed the Capitol to be breached. A majority of Americans favor a national commission.
“The calls are understandable and worthy—though some hard thinking is needed before launching any investigation,” Daniel Byman and Benjamin Wittes write on Lawfare.
There is “a lot of sense to a high-level and broad inquiry by an independent commission to explore and report on the multifaceted aspects of Jan. 6 that have nothing to do with impeachment or criminal conduct,” Byman and Wittes write. “Besides offering a definitive account of the events leading up to the storming of the Capitol and the attack itself, what should the commission look at?” they ask. They offer a list of at least some of the questions that any commission will need to consider:
1. Who were the attackers?
“A wide range of extremist groups participatedin the Jan. 6 assault, but for now at least, the public does not have a sense of their precise mix and respective roles.”
2. Which parts of the warning system failed?
“Despite many agencies having responsibility for security in this instance (or perhaps because so many agencies were involved), it is not clear who was responsible for anticipating the threat and how the relevant security bodies were to coordinate.”
3. Why were the pieces not put together?
“By now it is clear that there were numerous signsthat violence was possible, or even likely…. How and to what extent was this information shared and, once shared, disseminated to the necessary authorities?”
