House Freedom Caucus opposed 9/11-style Jan. 6 commission resolution, 35 Republicans supported it

The conservative House Freedom Caucus formally opposed the January 6th commission resolution, which passed in the House on Wednesday evening.

“We will not support empowering unelected bureaucrats to have expansive subpoena power in order to smear Republicans for purely political purposes. The truth is that while Speaker Pelosi spent the past four months playing politics, multiple congressional committees and the broader law enforcement community have conducted investigations into the security of the Capitol complex and have made hundreds of arrests,” the caucus said in a statement on Facebook.

"We should not interfere with ongoing investigations in the name of political theater. This commission is not about fact-finding, it is about putting Republicans and the 75 million Americans who voted for former President Trump on trial in the media for the next 18 months. As was the case with the Mueller investigation, this is a distraction from the very real issues facing the American people today," said the caucus, which is chaired by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.).

The resolution is based on an agreement between House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who voted to impeach Trump following the riot, and the committee's ranking member John Katko, a New York Republican who also voted to impeach Trump. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has referred to the events of Jan. 6 as a "terrorist mob attack."

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, explained why he opposed the commission legislation in a speech on the House floor.

"We have a significant amount of power with the existing structures in place and while investigation is under way from the Department of Justice. We should be looking at that and use those powers to do what we can to seek the truth wherever it may lead," he said.

According to DOJ, about 440 individuals have been arrested for their involvement in the Capitol riot.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), a Republican who voted to impeach former President Trump following the riot, was one of the Republicans who said he was voting to back the commission. 

"If it had not been for the brave Capitol and Metropolitan police that day, who knows how many of our heads would have been swinging on those gallows constructed on East Front of Capitol?" he said Wednesday on the House floor.

Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) questioned why Democratic lawmakers have compared the Jan. 6 riot to 9/11 but haven't spoken out against the looting that happened in major cities throughout the summer after the death of George Floyd.

"Why is one form of political violence equivalent to 9/11 when a blind eye has been turned by this Congress, or at least by the majority in this Congress, to that same phenomenon across this country for a year? Where is the inquiry into that?" he said.

"When the images are raised, the images about insurrection -- let me say this, if it was an insurrection, it was the worst example of an insurrection in the history of mankind. It was a riot. It was a mob and it was significant and it was troublesome but this is not bipartisanship," he added.

In total, 35 Republicans joined Democrats in voting in favor of the commission and 175 voted against it. The final vote was 252-175.