"To protect our security, our security, our security, our next step will be to establish an outside, independent 9/11-type Commission to 'investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6 2021 domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex,’" Pelosi said in a Monday letter to members of Congress.
Pelosi stressed that "we must get to the truth of how this happened," and said that the preparedness of the US Capitol Police and other law enforcement will be assessed.
The House Speaker said more funds are needed to ensure Capitol security and the safety of Congress members.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said after the acquittal of former US President Donald Trump last week that "Trump's actions that preceded the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty," and that the former president "is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day [January 6]." Nonetheless, McConnell voted to acquit Trump on Saturday.
In the final tally on Saturday, 57 US senators endorsed and 43 rejected a single article of impeachment accusing Trump of inciting the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The conviction required a two-thirds majority vote of at least 67 out of 100 Senators.
In a statement after the vote, Trump said the impeachment trial was "another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country."
On January 6, Trump supporters stormed Capitol Hill in a bid to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden's presidential election victory. At least five people, including a female air force veteran, were killed and over 170 cases have been opened by police in connection with the riots.
