House Republicans are privately plotting to release their own 100+ page rebuttal timed to the Jan. 6 committee report this week, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Republicans aim to cast the select committee's report as partisan by contrasting its expected focus on former President Trump with their concentration on Capitol security.
What we're hearing: "We're prepared to release it when they release theirs," a senior Republican source told Axios.
- The GOP's shadow Jan. 6 panel is made up of would-be select committee members.
- The shadow group's report will likely come in at over 100 pages.
- The select committee's report is expected at around 1,000 pages, as Axios' Mike Allen reported last month.
What we’re watching: The precise timing is still being worked out, Axios is told, with Republicans waiting to see what the select committee does at its Monday hearing.
- Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the select committee’s chair, has said at least part of the report’s executive summary and eight chapters will be released Monday.
- The release of the full report, including “attachments,” is slated for Wednesday, he told reporters last week.
Details: Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), the leader of the shadow group, told Axios their report will "focus on security failures," arguing the select committee has "never dealt with the serious issues."
- The Republicans probed the Capitol Police and FBI's intelligence gathering and dissemination, as well as the insufficient training and equipment given to law enforcement — including by interviewing Capitol Police officers.
- By contrast, Banks claimed, the select committee's plan to have Trump as the focal point of its report is "all about political payback."
- He said the GOP group will also "dive into legislative and policy changes that could be made by the next speaker.”
The other side: The select committee’s report is expected to focus on Trump, but the findings of a team that looked into security failures are included in the attachments likely being released on Wednesday, according to Politico.
- The Jan. 6 committee declined to comment.
The context: The shadow committee is comprised of the five members House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) had picked for the select committee in July.
- He withdrew all five after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) refused to seat Banks and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), saying they would undermine the probe’s seriousness.
What's next: McCarthy sent the select committee a preservation request for all its materials and said House Republicans, when they take control in January, will hold hearings into Jan. 6 security failures.
- Thompson has said the select committee has nothing to hide and plans to make all its findings available to the public, telling Axios of McCarthy: “He’s the public. If he wants access to it, all he has to do is go online and he’ll have it.”
