Jan. 6 Panel Unlikely to Release Report Until Late December
Erik Wasson and John Harney, Bloomberg News
U.S. Capitol Police scuffle with demonstrators after they broke through security fencing outside of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. The House and Senate will meet in a joint session today to count the Electoral College votes to confirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory, but not before a sizable group of Republican lawmakers object to the counting of several states' electors. , Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) -- The chairman of the US House committee investigating the 2021 assault on the US Capitol said the panel's final report would likely not be released until late December, shortly before Republicans take control of the chamber.
Representative Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, said Tuesday night that the committee was "close to pens down" on the much-anticipated document, but that fact-checking would take longer. The panel had said that it hoped to release the report by the first part of December.
Thompson added that the report comprised eight chapters and would include a section on law enforcement and communication failures during the assault.
Possible criminal referrals resulting from the committee's investigation were under discussion, Thompson said, and would be handled separately from the report.
The committee is facing an end-of-year cutoff to its authority, and it's unlikely that Republicans who won the House majority in this month's midterm elections will renew its charter in January.
The committee was formed in July of last year to investigate the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021 by supporters of then-President Donald Trump as the House and Senate met to certify Joe Biden's Electoral College victory in the 2020 presidential election.
Witnesses in closed-door sessions and public hearings included members of the Trump administration who testified about efforts by the former president and his allies to change the outcome of the election.
The attack on the Capitol began after a rally near the White House in which Trump repeated false claims that he had been robbed of reelection.
The House planned to hold its last floor votes for the year by Dec 16 but could stay in later to finish budget matters.
--With assistance from Billy House.