Poll: Support for Capitol Riot Probe Declines Among Republicans, Independents

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The Democrat-led US House Select Committee investigating the 6 January events art the US Capitol risks becoming just another partisan dispute amid declining support from Republicans and independents, a new Morning Consult poll revealed.

“While the panel’s direction is in line with the desires of most Democratic voters, Republicans have hardened their opposition and have joined independent voters in expressing less urgency for the investigation," Morning Consult said in a press release following its latest survey.

Roughly three in five independents (59 percent) say it is at least somewhat important for the federal government to continue investigating the January 6 events, down 8 points since June and the share of Republicans who said the same fell by a similar share, to 39 percent, the release said.

“The polling suggests that the investigative microscope on the events of January 6 is becoming just another partisan disagreement,” the release added.

Two-thirds of Republican voters say there has been too much focus on the events of January 6, while a similar share of Democrats say there has not been enough focus, according to the release.

On 6 January 2021, a group of protesters besieged the US Capitol in a bid to prevent lawmakers from certifying the 2020 election results that Donald Trump had repeatedly denounced as "rigged" and fraudulent, and certify Democrat Joe Biden as the winner. At the time, scores of pro-Trump supporters rallied outside the US Capitol building.

The crowds stormed the building, vandalising it, and clashed with police. Five people died as a result of the events and dozens more were injured, including at least 138 police officers.

Law enforcement authorities have since arrested over 500 individuals who participated in the Capitol riots, charging some with assaulting federal police officers. The authorities charged hundreds of people for participating in the event.

Democratic lawmakers used the events at the Capitol to try to permanently ban Trump from politics by impeaching him a second time. However, the impeachment trial failed in the Senate in February, when Trump was already out of office.