Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska told CNN Tuesday that former President Donald Trump should testify for the soon to be created House January 6 Commission because he is a “key individual.”
“If you put together a commission that is focused on the events of January 6, I think he’s obviously a very key individual,” Murkowski said.
The House is expected to pass legislation creating a bipartisan panel to investigate the riot on Capitol Hill January 6 that saw several hundred supporters of then President Trump try to storm the congressional building as lawmakers finalized the Electoral College results of the 2020 election.
Several people died in the riot including a Capitol Police officer and a female Trump supporter shot by Capitol Police.
In April, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., revised her initial make up of a commission to investigate the incident to make sure it was evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, CNN reported at the time.
“It’s not about reviewing the elections. It is not about examining Black Lives Matter. It’s about what happened on January 6 and how we can prevent it from happening again,” Pelosi said in the April article. “So, if we can agree on scope, I think that we can agree on a commission. The size, timing, all the rest of that, those are negotiable, and that’s not the main part of it.”
Also on Tuesday, Pelosi blasted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., for saying he does not support creating the commission, calling him a coward, The Hill reported.
“I’m very pleased that we have a bipartisan bill to come to the floor,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. “And [it’s] disappointing but not surprising that the cowardice on the part of some on the Republican side not to want to find the truth.”
Trump held a rally earlier in the day January 6 and addressed thousands of his supporters, encouraging them to march up to the Capitol.
“I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” he said near the end of the rally, according to a transcript of the speech by NPR.
Following the violence of the riot, the House voted a second time to impeach the 45th president for “inciting” the riot.
He was acquitted in the Republican controlled Senate.
According to the CNN report, McCarthy is opposing the commission unless it also looks at riots and violence that took place last summer following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.