January 6 committee destroyed records – Trump and GOP

Former President Donald J. Trump, facing trial for his pronouncements on January 6, 2021, made a shocking allegation yesterday evening. He alleged that the January 6 Committee destroyed their records, in defiance of an earlier demand that they preserve them. What’s more, at least one Republican in the House has been looking for those records for a long time.

Did the January 6 Committee destroy records?

Trump, in two posts to Truth Social, accused the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol of destroying records the law required them to preserve. In his posts he emphasized the “full subpoena power” that his status as a criminal defendant ironically gives him. He also suggested that the courts should dismiss his indictment on the basis of lack of evidence.

So now that I have full Subpoena Power because of the Freedom of Speech Sham Indictment by Crooked Joe Biden, Deranged Jack Smith, and the DOJ, it has just been reported that the Unselect January 6th Committee of Political Hacks and Thugs has illegally destroyed their Records and Documents. This is unthinkable, and the Fake Political Indictment against me must be immediately withdrawn. The system is Rigged & Corrupt, very much like the Presidential Election of 2020. We are a Nation in Decline! Post at August 8, 2023, 9:54 p.m. EDT

The January 6th Unselect Committee got rid of EVERYTHING! Discarded, Deleted, Thrown Out. A Flagrant Violation of the law. They had so much to hide, and now that I have Subpoena Power, they didn’t want to get caught. They knew EXACTLY what they were doing. AN EGREGIOUS CRIMINAL ACT & BLATANT DISREGARD OF THE LAW! Can you imagine if I would have done such a thing??? Post at August 8, 2023, 11:34 p.m. EDT

The Gateway Pundit has the major reportage, and this backgrounder. After Midterms, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), then House Minority Leader and widely expected to become Speaker, sent a letter to Rep. Bernie Thompson (D-Miss.), Chairman of the January 6 Committee:

• Demanding preservation of all committee records, and
• Promising hearings on the Republican side as to why the U.S. Capitol was vulnerable to any “attack.”

The original link for the letter itself is broken, and resolves to HTTP 404 (“File Not Found”). But the Wayback Machine captured it shortly after its November 30, 2022 upload.

For the record, the Committee’s final report and other supporting documents are available at GovInfo.gov. But yesterday afternoon (August 8), Fox News reported that the Committee did in fact destroy records. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee of the Committee on House Administration, made the charge last December. At issue were missing records of communications between the Committee and the Biden White House. In addition, records of a team tasked to investigate deficiencies in Capitol security are all missing.

A brazen response

Chairman Thompson and “Ranking Member” Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) sent this moderately redacted letter to the White House Counsel’s office a week after issuing their final report. In it Thompson and Cheney mention turning over certain records to the White House.

On June 26, 2023, Rep. Loudermilk sent this letter to Rep. Thompson, asking his “assistance” in locating the missing records.

Thompson shot this letter back to Loudermilk, denying any responsibility to preserve more than is available at GovInfo.

Yesterday Loudermilk sent this letter to the Special Counsel to the President asking for the return of the records.

Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001 reads in relevant part:

(a)Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—

(1)falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;

(2)makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or

(3)makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;

shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both. If the matter relates to an offense under chapter 109A, 109B, 110, or 117, or section 1591, then the term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be not more than 8 years.