US Congress: Republicans block investigation into Capitol storm

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Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th

Photo: JIM LO SCALZO / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock

The Republicans in the US Congress blocked the establishment of a commission of inquiry to deal with the attack on the Capitol on January 6th.

In the Senate, the conservatives prevented the establishment of the independent body in a procedural vote on Friday.

Only six of the 50 Republican senators voted together with the Democrats to clear the way for the commission.

To get the necessary majority of 60 of the 100 senators, there would have to have been at least ten Republicans.

The House of Representatives had voted in mid-May to set up a ten-person commission of inquiry, half of which were to be elected by Democrats and half Republicans.

The opposition Republicans, who still have a decisive influence on ex-President Donald Trump, reject such a body by a majority.

A commission based on the 9/11 model was planned

The storming of the Capitol on January 6th had rocked the United States and is considered a black day in the history of US democracy. Radical Trump supporters had attacked the seat of Congress when the election victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential election on November 3 was to be certified there. Five people were killed in the violence, including a police officer. Trump had previously repeated his completely unsubstantiated accusation of massive election fraud at a performance in front of supporters in Washington and urged his audience to march to the Capitol and "fight the hell out of it."

The Democrats subsequently initiated impeachment proceedings against Trump, which ultimately failed in the Senate.

With their latest initiative, the Democrats wanted to investigate the exact background of the Capitol storming with a commission of inquiry.

The model was a commission formed after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Senate Republican chief Mitch McConnell spoke out against such a commission.

He argued that there could be unnecessary duplication with the ongoing law enforcement investigation.

According to observers, the Republicans are primarily worried about new negative headlines about Trump, which is still very popular among the grassroots - with a view to the congressional election in 2022, among other things. Some conservative politicians are already belittling the violence of January 6 .

asa / AFP