Key Jan. 6 committee documents may be locked up for decades

Just days before it disbands and loses control over the millions of pages of evidence it has gathered, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection has released transcripts of just 126 of the more than 1,000 interviews it conducted.

If the committee runs out of time, the largest compilation of evidence about the attack could be lost — locked away by the National Archives for decades, or withheld from the public so as to not harm the ongoing Justice Department investigation into the attack, experts warn.

“The absence of these documents is kind of a grave concern” for ensuring accountability and guaranteeing the historical record is as accurate as possible, said Ryan Goodman, a law professor and co-founder of the national security law and policy website Just Security.

Committee spokespeople did not respond to questions about what information the committee will be able to make public before it shuts down on Tuesday. After the committee dissolves, its records will be handed over to a yet-to-be-determined successor committee, then to the House clerk, and eventually to the National Archives, where they’re expected to be shielded from public view for at least 30 years.

Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-miss., promised at the committee’s final hearing on Dec. 19 to make public the bulk of the nonsensitive material the panel had compiled. But the rate at which information has been released has experts afraid the committee will not honor that vow.

Once the committee’s records end up at the National Archives, they will be extremely difficult for the public to see. House rules shield records given to the National Archives from public view for a minimum of 30 years, with sensitive information held back for 50 years.

Congress retains ownership of records that enter the National Archives, so lawmakers could one day decide to release them to the public.