Republican officials have a go-to move in response to probes they consider politically inconvenient. It’s known as the “investigate the investigation” tactic.
As regular readers know, the GOP was unmoved by Donald Trump’s Russia scandal, but it cared about the investigation into the investigation. The party didn’t care that Hillary Clinton was cleared in her email controversy, but some Republicans endorsed investigating the investigation. The GOP shrugged at Trump extorting Ukraine in 2019, but the then-president was an enthusiastic proponent of investigating the investigators.
It’s clearly time to add the Jan. 6 committee and its investigation to the list. CNN reported:
Republicans in the House are beginning to plot multiple probes into the 2021 Capitol attack, including looking into the Democratic-led select committee’s actions from the last Congress. … GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, an ally of McCarthy’s, will now lead a new GOP probe into January 6, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. As chairman of the House Administration’s subcommittee on oversight, the Georgia Republican is expected to focus on the select committee….
CNN’s report, which has been confirmed by NBC News, added that Loudermilk “has already begun poring over the more than 2 million documents of the January 6 select committee’s work.” It went on to note that the Republican congressman “plans to staff up, hold hearings and could even issue subpoenas if needed.”
If Loudermilk’s name sounds at all familiar in this context, there’s a good reason: The Georgian had an evolving explanation last year in response to allegations that he gave a controversial Capitol tour the day before the riot. Now, that same GOP congressman is helping lead an investigation into the Jan. 6 investigation.
To be sure, this isn’t coming out of nowhere. Shortly after the 2022 midterm elections, then-House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, as he prepared to become…
Read the full article here
