Jeffries says Republicans will ‘regret’ GOP-led Jan. 6 investigation as Democrats agree to participate

By Sarah Ferris, CNN

(CNN) — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has appointed three Democratic members to sit on the GOP’s new panel investigating the January 6 riot at the US Capitol – casting the move as an effort to avoid allowing the committee to “whitewash” the violence from that day.

Rep. Eric Swalwell of California will serve as the top Democrat on the subcommittee, alongside Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Jared Moskowitz of Florida. Jeffries called Swalwell the “proud son of a cop, highly accomplished former prosecutor and skilled legislator” who will push back against the GOP’s efforts to “rewrite history.”

“Republicans will regret that they’ve decided to go down this road,” Jeffries said at a press conference announcing his picks, scorching Trump’s moves earlier this year to pardon convicted felons who beat police officers at the riot at the Capitol.

“Donald Trump and House Republicans are now determined to whitewash that day that will always live in infamy. House Democrats will not let it happen, not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”

Crockett added: “The only reason we’re talking about Jan. 6 is because the Republican are the ones bringing this, not us.”

Democrats have fiercely opposed Speaker Mike Johnson’s creation of the new GOP subcommittee, which Republicans say will be focused on the security breach of the Capitol, including intelligence failures at the top levels. Trump himself urged House Republicans to launch the investigation, seeking to have his party leaders relitigate the January 6 matter under GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk and personally pushing for the new committee after it appeared to have stalled.

“I got called in by the president,” Loudermilk told CNN earlier this year. “We sat and talked for a while. And he was asking, ‘what is the stall?’ Because he had expected it to be done early in the year too. We talked about it, he engaged with the speaker’s office.”

Swalwell has a history of battling House Republicans, and the GOP has consistently targeted him. That includes denying him a seat on the House Intelligence Committee in retaliation for Democrats having previously removed GOP lawmakers from their committees.

The first House select committee that investigated the January 6 attack laid out a damning case over 800-plus pages that Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election led to the violence at the US Capitol. Its work, though, proceeded without lawmakers appointed by then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of the five Republicans he tapped for the role and he pulled the rest. The Republicans that did take part, like former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, made clear they were not there to back up McCarthy’s views on the matter.

Some observers criticized McCarthy for not having members of the GOP who could help steer the work. And Jeffries decided to make sure that Democrats will have a voice on the committee.

This story and headline have been updated with additional details.

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