WASHINGTON — The final report by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection will provide the most comprehensive account yet of what led to the worst attack on the Capitol in more than 200 years. But it's not likely to include all of the evidence the panel collected in its 18-month investigation.
Congress is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, and House rules, which lawmakers approve with each new Congress, set an at minimum two-decade timeline before the public can see records that are preserved.
That means that potentially millions of pages of depositions, cellphone and text records, emails, staff notes and analysis by outside organizations compiled as part of the committee's investigation that don't make it into the official final report or aren't released before the end of the year won't become public for decades — if they ever do at all.
