Jan 6 Committee Deleted Evidence Prior to GOP Takeover

(WatchDogReport.org) – House Administration Committee Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) spearheads the inquiry into the Capitol disturbance on January 6, 2021. That day’s security breaches and the conduct of the previous select committee looking into the Capitol riot are under investigation by the panel. House Speaker Mike Johnson has assured Loudermilk that his inquiry is in a “new phase” and has pledged more resources for the probe.

Before its dissolution at the end of 2022, the Jan. 6 committee used extensive resources, including millions of dollars, prime-time public hearings, and the interrogation of hundreds of witnesses. In its final 845 pages, the committee laid out its findings and recommended the DOJ bring charges against former president Trump for inciting the disturbance that broke out on January 6. According to Loudermilk, the committee had amassed four terabytes of material, while the House clerk’s hard disks had fewer than three terabytes accessible. This goes against House regulations.

A source with knowledge of the subcommittee’s inquiry said that they had hired a digital forensics company to search the hard drives of the Jan 6 committee. On January 1, 2023, 117 files were found to have been deleted. According to sources familiar with the Loudermilk investigation, the previous select committee, headed by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), was obligated to transfer all investigational documents to the newly formed panel, which Republicans head, after the 2022 midterm elections gave Republicans control of the House. Since the data have been discovered, the congressman is asking that Democrats turn over the passwords to gain access to the data.

Loudermilk wants the “unedited and unredacted transcripts” of the White House and DHS general counsel’s testimony before the last select committee.

Authorities are still trying to determine who planted the pipe bombs outside the offices of the Republican and Democratic national committees the day before the Capitol assault and identify the more than 80 individuals sought for violent conduct at the Capitol.

These trials are taking place in the same courtroom where Trump is set to face trial in March concerning the lawsuit that accuses him of plotting to reverse the results of his 2020 election defeat.