Politics

Democratic Senator Wants Potential 1/6 Commission Split Evenly Between Parties

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Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons said Thursday he wants the potential Jan. 6 commission into the Capitol riot to be evenly split between political parties.

“The leaders of the 9/11 commission have said that part of why it was so successful is that it was even, it was balanced and it was led by folks who were well respected and well regarded who had a reputation for working across the aisle,” Coons said on CNN’s “New Day.”

“I think it’s important that we have a balanced January 6th commission, a commission that looks into all the events that led up to the riot at the capitol and this baseless theory that [former President Donald Trump] won the election,” Coons said.

Coons also suggested that the commission should be made up of those not in office.

“But it’s going to have to be done by folks who are not currently serving or seeking office, folks who are not politically motivated in how they get to the bottom of this,” Coons said.

Coons responded “yes” when host John Berman asked if the commission should be split evenly.

WATCH:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s draft proposal Wednesday, which would have allowed the commission to consist of seven Democrats and four Republicans, Politico reported. The Senate minority leader said if any widespread investigation is conducted over the riot, probing for general political violence must also be part of the investigation.

Pelosi announced the implementation of “an outside, independent 9/11-type Commission to ‘investigate and report on the facts and causes'” over the Jan. 6 riot,” according to a Feb. 15 Dear Colleague letter.

Pelosi said the commission will investigate the readiness and responses from “the United States Capitol Police and other Federal, State, and local law enforcement in the National Capitol Region.”

“This is important. It’s one of the key ways, John, of how we come together as a country. Joe Biden ran on unifying our nation and to unify our nation, we have to lay bare the ways in which we just haven’t believed each other,” Coons said. “Joe Biden was legitimately elected president of the United States, and we need to help the American people accept that fact.”

Rioters supporting Trump broke into the Capitol building on Jan. 6 during a protest which turned into a deadly riot against the Electoral College’s certification of the presidential election results.