WASHINGTON — Republican efforts to formally rewrite the history of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol — and President Donald Trump’s role in it — are poised to reach dizzying new heights.
Though House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) first announced that a new Jan. 6 committee would be formed seven months ago, it was not until Wednesday that House Republicans quietly passed authorization for a new committee in a procedural vote tied to wholly unrelated measures.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), who chaired a similar committee in the previous Congress, is set to lead the new panel. “We were just cracking open some new information when it ended last time,” Loudermilk said, such as new details about paid FBI informants who’d been in contact with rioters. The Justice Department’s inspector general said in December 2024 that FBI informants were on the scene, but played no role in orchestrating the riot.
HuffPost asked Loudermilk if he contends that Trump supporters did not attack the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to disrupt the certification of Trump’s election loss the previous November. He stammered in response.
“I have not seen — well, I mean, you got to define the president’s support, you know, Trump supporter. Was he engaged in it? We’ve seen no evidence whatsoever that he was engaged in that,” Loudermilk said.
