by WorldTribune Staff, November 17, 2025 Real World News
More than $17 million U.S. taxpayer dollars were spent on the biased House Select Committee on Jan. 6, nearly twice as much as previously reported, an investigation found.
The committee, which had a budget of $9.3 million, hired TV news producers and documentary filmmakers to create videos dramatizing the committee’s case against President Donald Trump, The Center Square found.
According to a review of U.S. House disbursements, the select committee spent $17.4 million. U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican who is on a new committee appointed by House Speaker Mike Johnson to investigate security failures on Jan. 6, said the original committee didn’t spend taxpayer money properly after The Center Square told him about the final costs of the panel’s investigation.
“They wasted it,” Nehls said. “That was a sham committee. (Liz) Cheney. (Adam) Kinzinger. It was a joke.”
Dan Savickas, president of policy and government affairs at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, a non-partisan nonprofit, said more than doubling of the budget was not appropriate.
“The median budget for a House committee is $6 million a year, so for the Jan. 6 committee to spend $17.4 million is excessive,” Savickas told The Center Square. “And anytime a committee is grandstanding, specifically Jan. 6, to fit a narrative instead of holding people accountable and getting the story is bad. That’s why they hired documentary filmmakers.”
Among the three dozen contractors and consultants hired by the committee, many of whom worked for a few months or less than a year rather than all 18 months like full-time staff, included the former president of ABC News, a longtime producer for ABC’s Nightline, an Emmy-award winning daily TV news producer, and a former documentarian for the Oprah Winfrey Network, the investigation found.
Brian Sasser, an Emmy-award winning daily TV news producer, noted on his LinkedIn page that his job was to “(m)anage constantly evolving rundown and scripts for live hearings” of the select committee and to “(c)oordinate with various U.S. House staffers and Committee investigators to ensure accuracy of all scripting.”
The investigation also found:
• Among the contracting companies was Innovative Driven Inc., an Arlington, Virginia-based firm that specializes in forensics, electronic data discovery and project management. The privately held company received $2.4 million. A company spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
• Another recipient was Polar Solutions Inc., a Gaithersburg, Maryland-based investigative firm of money laundering and cryptocurrency crimes. The company received $2.7 million. Polar Solutions’ president, Arthur Ahrens, declined to comment when called by The Center Square.
• Full-time committee staffers received more money in personal and other compensation than regular members of Congress, a tradition in line with recent history. While rank-and-file members earn $174,000 a year, Timothy J. Heaphy, the J6 committee’s chief investigative counsel, was paid almost $190,00 in personal and other compensation in 12 months.
Report: J6 Select Committee cost taxpayers nearly twice previous estimates added by Editor Two on
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