NORFOLK, Va. — On January 6, 2021, pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, trying to overturn the 2020 election results.
Congress was in the bullseye and Representative Elaine Luria (D, VA-02) was in the middle of it all. Today she sits on the House Select Committee working to find out who orchestrated the attack and try to make sure it never happens again.
Luria said six months into the committee's work, she's concerned about how close our democracy came to falling on that day.
"I think it was dangerously close. I think that were it not for the actions of several people in key positions who did the right thing, who followed the law, we could have had a very different outcome that day," Luria said, adding it's become increasingly clear that people inside government and out, wanted to disrupt our functioning democracy.
The so-called "Big Lie."
"As we learn more and get closer and closer to the people who were at the center of that, it will become very clear to the American people that our country was in danger," Luria said.
To date, the Congresswoman said the committee has heard from 300 witnesses, gotten 250 tips from the public, and produced 35,000 documents. The objective is to find any links between those who came to Washington on January 6th to members of Congress, even to the White House.
"When you look at the people who show up for a peaceful protest, they normally don't wear bulletproof vests and tactical radios," Luria noted.
As for whether any current members of Congress were involved in a plot to overthrow the U.S. government on January 6th: "Well, we certainly want to hear from several members of Congress," Luria said, adding, "There were sitting members of Congress who spoke at these rallies on January 5th, for example, and very clearly made claims of the big lie about the election being stolen."
Luria said using a widespread disinformation campaign online, rioters somehow felt violence was the way for their voices to be heard.
"If it were not for people who did the right thing that day, such as Vice President Pence and the bravery of the Capitol Police Officers who held these people off and prevented them from overrunning the chamber while lawmakers were still in there, we could've had a very different outcome," she said.
As for whether the House Select Committee's investigation ultimately will lead to Donald Trump: "I’m not going to forecast the outcome, but he’s certainly a key figure," Luria said, adding, "There were 187 minutes that elapsed from the time the Capitol was broached until the President of the United States -- the Commander in Chief, someone who has vast influence over the people who were doing these violent acts -- before he spoke to the public to tell these people to leave."
As the Select Committee enters the new year, public hearings into what happened on January 6 will come into people's homes with members of former President Trump's inner circle called to answer about the day our democracy came dangerously close to falling.
"I think what concerns me most is will all Americans listen to what the committee produces?" Luria questioned. "Will they understand it as fact, that it's a nonpartisan investigation that this is really important to the future of our democracy in our country and what we think of ourselves as Americans?"
Luria said she expects a final report from the Select Committee well before the mid-term elections that will and make recommendations to make sure we never see another event like what transpired on January 6th, 2021.