Pelosi names panel to probe Jan. 6 riot

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday announced eight members of the new select committee that will investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Among those chosen are some of former President Donald Trump's most prominent critics, including Democrat Adam Schiff, who led the arguments for the first impeachment of then-President Donald Trump... and Republican Representative Liz Cheney.

Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson, a Democrat, will chair the panel.

“We'll do our job. We'll do it according to the oath we took as members of Congress. But more importantly we have to get to the bottom of finding out all the things that went wrong on January 6.”

After fiery remarks by Trump, his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to stop Joe Biden from being certified the winner of last November's presidential election.

Five people died as a result of the violence, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer. On Wednesday the House voted, largely along partisan lines, to establish a special committee after Senate Republicans blocked the creation of an independent commission which Pelosi originally sought.

The committee will have the power to subpoena witnesses.

But Pelosi did not comment on whether Trump would be called to testify.

Behind the scenes, according to a House Republican aide, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has threatened to strip committee assignments from any Republicans who agree to join the panel.

Something McCarthy denied at a press conference Thursday:

REPORTER: “Why should Liz Cheney lose her committee assignments for agreeing to serve on a select committee to investigate what happened on Jan. 6?”

MCCARTHY: “I’m not making threats about committee assignments, but as you know how Congress works, you get selected by your district, and you get your committees from your conference... I don’t know in history where someone would go get their committee assignments from the speaker and expect to have them from the conference as well.”

Republican leaders have resisted any special panel to investigate the Jan. 6 riot, noting existing congressional committees have been doing their own probes and that more than 500 people already have been charged with crimes.