A committee is a group of people who are responsible for making decisions within an organization. A committee’s members may be elected or appointed. A committee’s work is documented in the form of minutes, or a written record of the decisions made at meetings. Minutes are often taken by a person designated as secretary. A committee may be informal and follow Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR) or a more formal set of procedures, such as those prescribed by the body that a committee reports to. Committees may meet regularly or on an as-needed basis, and are often subject to open meeting laws.
The House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack in the United States Capitol released its final report on December 22, 2022. The full report and other supporting materials are available on the committee’s website.
Investigators conclude that Trump campaign and RNC fundraising pitches claiming that the election had been stolen were not fact checked prior to being sent out. The committee says the pitch was based on messages said by Trump and that the claims were known to be false when the emails were approved for use. The committee’s investigators say that Trump himself was never told that the pitch was based on a false statement and that he did not ask his legal team to verify the claim before it was used for fundraising.
The committee’s executive summary first released Monday says it has evidence to pursue multiple charges against the president, including obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiring to injure or impede officers of the House and to commit seditious conspiracy. The summary also says the panel has evidence to prosecute conservative Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, a Freedom Caucus member who spearheaded the Jan. 6 investigation and has been accused of using his investigative powers to target fellow Republicans in the new Congress.
The resolution that established the panel grants it jurisdiction to investigate “the expansive authority vested in the Executive Branch, including the Justice Department, social media companies and private entities, to collect information on or investigate citizens of the United States.” If it is passed by the full chamber, the committee will be able to subpoena witnesses. It will also have the power to request documents from private entities and the CIA and extend its investigations into areas that would normally be overseen by other panels, such as intelligence. But the language is controversial, and some members of both parties oppose it. It has not yet been scheduled for a vote.