WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday named Republican Rep. Liz Cheney and seven Democrats to a new select committee to investigate the violent Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, will lead the panel. It will investigate what went wrong around the Capitol when hundreds of supporters of then-President Donald Trump broke into the building, hunted for lawmakers and interrupted the congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.
Cheney, R-Wyo., said in a statement that she is “honored” to serve on the committee and that “Congress is obligated to conduct a full investigation of the most serious attack on our Capitol since 1814.”
The House approved the panel on Wednesday over the objections Republicans. Cheney, who was removed from GOP leadership this year because of her criticism of Trump, was one of only two Republicans who supported forming the committee.
Pelosi, D-Calif., formed the committee after Senate Republicans blocked an independent, bipartisan probe.