Democratic congressman stresses risk of not investigating Capitol attack: ‘We have a domestic terror movement in America’

Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat and veteran who helped comfort other lawmakers during the US Capitol insurrection, said Wednesday evening there’s a “domestic terror movement” in the US as he sought to highlight the risk of not investigating the January 6 riot.

“We have a domestic terror movement in America. It has been enabled, it has been furthered, it has been legitimized by leaders at the highest levels of our country, starting with Donald Trump,” Crow told CNN’s Don Lemon on “Don Lemon Tonight.”

“That’s the sad reality. If we are not honest about what it is we’re dealing with, if we’re not honest about the dangers of that movement, we will not address it in a way that we need to and we will be at risk. This is not just an exercise in history and making sure that the history books accurately reflect on January 6. We have a current problem we have to address and we have to be honest about that and we have to do what is necessary to keep ourselves safe.”

The overwhelming majority of GOP senators are expected to filibuster a bill to investigate the Capitol riot and, as of now, only two GOP senators — Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — have indicated they would be willing to support the current legislation.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she would vote for a procedural motion to begin debate on the legislation Thursday to be able to offer an amendment to make changes to the bill, according to her spokeswoman Annie Clark.

The measure passed in the House last week, with 35 Republican members voting for the commission.

Crow’s comments Wednesday evening echo the blunt assessment that Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the DC District Court wrote in an opinion about the dangers of Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen.

“The steady drumbeat that inspired defendant to take up arms has not faded away; six months later, the canard that the election was stolen is being repeated daily on major news outlets and from the corridors of power in state and federal government, not to mention in the near-daily fulminations of the former President,” Jackson wrote in an opinion to keep defendant Cleveland Meredith Jr. in jail because he could endanger the public if released.

Meredith allegedly had texted that he wanted to shoot House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, on live TV and had hauled a trailer of guns and ammo to Washington in January. He has pleaded not guilty.

Regardless of how the vote plays out on the current legislation, Crow emphasized Wednesday, “There needs to be a commission of some sort.”

“This is not just an exercise in the integrity of history,” he said. “We have to figure out what went wrong.”