Republican Rep. John Katko is calling for a congressional commission into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, saying classified briefings on the subject left him feeling it "was much worse than people realized."
The New York representative was the first GOP lawmaker to support the impeachment of President Donald Trump after the riot, which he believes was not a spontaneous attack, Newsweek reports. Katko said intelligence briefings on planning and security failures before the unrest left "a lot of unanswered questions" over "who was involved and when they were involved."
The top Republican on the House Committee on Homeland Security told Syracuse.com in an interview Tuesday he is convinced Congress needs a 9/11-style commission with the power to investigate and subpoena witnesses.
"We need to have a full stem to stern look back on this to see what happened, how it happened, the sequence of events, who contributed to it, and how we make sure it never happens again," Katko told his hometown news outlet.
Katko and two other Republicans in the House introduced a bill last week to establish an independent panel modeled on that which investigated the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Newsweek reports. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week said there is "strong support" in Congress for the move.
Though Katko voted against the first impeachment of Trump, he wrote an opinion piece in The Hill explaining his recent decision to back the president's second impeachment, saying he "came to the conclusion that the president's role in the insurrection was undeniable.
"To allow the president of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy and to our security," Katko wrote.
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