9/11 Commission Leaders: Capitol Riot Inquiry Must Be Bipartisan

The leaders of the 9/11 Commission are warning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that if Republicans and Democrats are not equally represented on the commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the American people may not trust its findings.

Following through with Pelosi's initial recommendation to have the "9/11-style" commission on the riot be made up of seven Democrat-appointed members and just four Republican-appointed ones would be the wrong decision, Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton told Politico Playbook. Kean, a Republican, served as chairman of the commission formed after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and Hamilton, a Democrat, served as vice chairman of that commission.

"That does not sound to me like a good start; it sounds like a partisan beginning," said Hamilton. 

Keen said that "unless you have equal representation … the report won't have as much confidence from the American people. It won't be as reliable." He added that he is "very concerned" that "both parties will tend to lean toward people who are partisan" to serve on the commission.

Pelosi's office said her proposal was just a "discussion draft," Politico notes. And Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill told the New York Post, "Nobody wants this to be partisan. That's why the effort here is to follow what was done with the 9/11 Commission, and that means that the commission leaders are appointed by the four top congressional leaders and the president."

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, with the backing of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, has called for Republicans and Democrats to have an equal number of picks on the commission and equal subpoena authority, Politico reports.

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