Republicans Threaten to Boycott Jan. 6 Committee After Pelosi Blocks Two Trump Allies
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday rejected two Republican selections to the committee investigating the US Capitol uprising on January 6, prompting the Republican leadership to threaten a boycott.
The minority group leader, Kevin McCarthy, nominated five Republicans to the select committee, but Pelosi took the rare step of dismissing Congressmen Jim Jordan and Jim Banks over concerns about the integrity of the investigation.
Democrats have accused Banks and Jordan, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, of venting what they call “the big lie”: Trump’s baseless claim that Joe Biden won the presidency through a stolen election.
Hours after the Capitol uprising, both belonged to several Republicans who voted against confirming the election results in some states.
“With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an emphasis on truth, and with concern for statements and actions by these members, I must reject the recommendations of representatives Banks and Jordan to the select committee,” Pelosi said in a statement. .
Pelosi, who has appointed a Democrat to chair the panel investigating what prompted a crowd of Trump supporters to storm the Capitol to undo the election results, said she had voiced her “objections” to McCarthy.
But the veto brought a heated threat from McCarthy, who accused the speaker of an unprecedented and “outrageous abuse of power” that cost the committee its credibility.
“Unless Chairman Pelosi changes course and all five Republican nominees are in office, Republicans will not be a party to their mock trial and instead continue our own investigation of the facts,” McCarthy said.
The tit-for-tat movements represent the latest bickering over what many hoped would be a concerted effort: to investigate the riots in the citadel of American democracy.
The Pelosi Democrats tried to create a bipartisan, independent 9/11-style commission to investigate the Capitol insurgency, but Senate Republicans rejected it.
Pelosi portrayed the violence, in which rioters clashed with police and tried to track down lawmakers, including Pelosi, as an attempt to overthrow the government.
“We need a comprehensive investigation into who staged this attack, who paid for it, how they nearly managed to overthrow a presidential election, why they did it, and how we need to organize to prevent something like this from ever happening again. said Pelosi. said.
She approved the three other Republicans selected to the panel — Congressmen Rodney Davis, Kelly Armstrong and Troy Nehls — and asked McCarthy to recommend two new members.
Pelosi himself had already appointed Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney to the committee.
Cheney, who voted to impeach Trump in January, denounced McCarthy’s “shameful” response to Pelosi and said she supported continuing an evidence-based investigation.
“The American people deserve to know what happened,” Cheney told reporters.
(AFP)
