Comer Opening Statement at Jan. 6 Hearing: Democrats Prioritize Politics Over People

Committee gears up for second “unproductive” hearing unlikely to uncover any new information

WASHINGTON—Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) opened today’s second House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing about the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by chastising Democrats for holding a partisan show hearing that is unlikely to uncover any new information. He blasted Democrats for failing to invite and compel U.S. Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman to testify at one of their two hearings given her role as head of the Capitol Police Intelligence Unit on January 6. He called out Democrats for failing to uphold the committee’s mission and addressing pressing issues such as President Biden’s border crisis and the origins of the coronavirus, and concluded by calling on Democrats to prioritize the American people over politics.

During his opening remarks, Ranking Member Comer also called on Chairwoman Maloney to end outdated pandemic restrictions governing committee business and return to normal. He emphasized Congress needs to lead by example and get back to doing the business of the American people.

The remarks as prepared for delivery are below.

Before I begin my remarks on today’s hearing, I just wanted to follow up on some of the comments that you made at the beginning of the hearing referencing flouting the rules and things like that.

I think we were all on the House Floor last night. We saw what I haven’t seen since the pandemic. There were probably 325-350 members all on the House floor for probably 30 minutes voting. I saw maybe 10 members who had masks on. It was like we were back to normal in the House of Representatives.

Just like, I made a couple of trips to Washington in the downtown area over the past two days. In the restaurants, they’re not requiring masks. The restaurants are back at full capacity.

We need to be back at full capacity and operate just like we are back to normal because we are. We have made great progress with this.

What we’re hearing when we spent the last three weeks traveling the districts—all of our districts—listening to the job creators and the employers of America. They are frustrated because they can’t find workers. It’s a bigger problem than inflation. It’s a bigger problem than all of these Biden polices that are starting to kick in and be so detrimental to our economy. The biggest problem is the lack of workers.

We need to demonstrate—in Congress. We need to show leadership that we are back to normal. We are going to get back to normal that we are going to get back to work in person, and that is what we are very happy to demonstrate here today.

I certainly hope that we can continue the work and demonstration that we are leading on this. We can have in-person hearings with in-person witnesses. We can get back to normal and do the business of the people.

We would love to have a lot of hearings. We send you letters—almost every other day—requesting certain hearings.

When you talk about the rules. We’ve requested many times to have Dr. Fauci come and explain what he meant in those emails that have become public. We would love to ask questions as we try to lead and get our economy back to normal.

There are a lot of things this committee can do in a bipartisan way.

I’m glad to see everybody back in the Committee room.

We’ll get started with today’s hearing. I must say that today’s hearing appears to be part of a pattern by Democrats to hold unproductive, partisan hearings to advance a political narrative rather than make our government more effective, transparent, and accountable to the American people.

Last week, this Committee held its second hearing on the opioid crisis by discussing a bankruptcy bill that isn’t even in this committee’s jurisdiction. The Democrats’ star witness for that hearing was a Democrat donor and book author who had no knowledge of bankruptcy and provided zero new information to this committee.

In what has become a trend, this week the Committee is holding its second hearing on the events of January 6. This second hearing also will likely provide no new information.

That’s because the Democrats’ star witness, FBI Director Christopher Wray, has already testified multiple times before Congress about the events of January 6. In fact, just last week he testified for five hours before the House Judiciary Committee, answering dozens of questions that will likely get repeated for him again today.

Last month, the Committee’s first hearing on the events of January 6 uncovered absolutely zero new information. Even CNN called the hearing “unproductive.” Democrats seemed upset that witnesses could not answer questions due to longstanding executive branch privileges and interests – privileges and interests that have been upheld by the courts for generations.

So today, the Democrats want to try again. Unfortunately, they aren’t going to do much better. Director Wray cannot talk about ongoing investigations and ongoing matters. It’s the nature of his job and is the same stance held by his predecessors. The Democrats know this.

Just like last week, however, this second hearing isn’t about gathering facts—it’s about gathering political points. Director Wray is here for one reason only—and that is to add an aura of credibility to this overtly political hearing.

That’s because the Democrats have invited none other than Michael Flynn’s brother, Charles Flynn. They have also invited Lt. Gen Walter Piatt. Combined, these two individuals have nearly 80 years of decorated service in the Army.

They were not in the chain of command on January 6. They did not have the ability to order troops to move or order them to stay.

Democrats want them to testify about a single phone call on January 6 that they may or may not have been on, let alone participated in.

If Democrats really wanted answers, they would have demanded or subpoenaed Acting Chief Pittman to testify at one of their two hearings on the January 6 attack. Instead, they left it to Committee Republicans to invite the acting chief, which we did. Unfortunately, the minority does not have subpoena power.

Pittman served as the head of the Capitol Police Intelligence unit on January 6. How can you have a credible hearing—much less two hearings—on January 6 when you don’t invite the acting Capitol Police Chief who just so happened to be in charge of intelligence on January 6?

Given last week’s bipartisan Senate report outlining her ineffectiveness leading up to January 6, her presence today would have been productive.

But she declined to be here today. Instead, she is in her office, just steps away from this room, watching another hearing on TV—a hearing that she claims she may need to respond to in some fashion. It is no wonder that 92 percent of the rank and file disapprove of the job she is doing.

Every one of us up here wants answers. But because she never worked for President Trump, the Democrats have shown no inclination to compel her testimony. It seems her testimony wouldn’t fit into the Democrats’ constructed, partisan narrative of the events that day.

Unfortunately, politics is the only lens through which Democrats seem to conduct committee business these days.

It’s why the committee held several hearings during the previous administration about conditions at the border. Yet now, when the crisis is far worse and illegal border crossings are at a 20-year high, Chairwoman Maloney refuses to hold a hearing. We first asked for a hearing over 100 days ago. But the only response we’ve gotten is crickets.

And with mounting evidence COVID-19 originated from the Wuhan lab, Republicans have repeatedly called on Democrats to investigate the origins of the virus to help prevent future pandemics. But Democrats have refused. Instead of holding Communist China accountable, Democrats say they will only continue to investigate the Trump Administration.

Under the leadership of Democrats, this committee is not about finding the truth. It is not about conducting meaningful oversight. It is only about politics.

It’s past time for Democrats to get back to this Committee’s mission of identifying and preventing government waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement, and ensuring the federal government is effective, efficient, transparent, and accountable to the American people.

Today’s partisan show hearing fails our Committee’s mission. The American people deserve answers about the attack on the U.S. Capitol and expect transparency and accountability from their leaders.

But sadly, today’s hearing shows Democrats continue to prioritize politics over the American people.